Shugo Chara Suki!
by Jewel of White
Summary: Tadase and Kukai are in middle school, no longer Guardians. But a new threat has risen that requires them to become Guardians once again. New heroines have been found as well, what could be so evil that requires this? Or so powerful that Easter wants their hands on it? Read and find out! Kukai x OC, Tadase x OC.
1. A Silent Cry

_**This is a very special Fanfiction that my Best friend in the whole wide world and I wrote together, took us over a year of ideas, editing, plotting, and is complete. 16 chapters. So hope you enjoy, comments are desired, I'll post the other chapters when I desire;) So disclaimer: We do not own Shugo Chara, but we do own Makayla, Sera, Koda, Fang, Naomi, Aishite, the Threat, plot, character transformations and the like...**_

_**So lets get to it!**_

_/Tsukasa's own expression faded into something sober. "We need to bring back the Guardians."/_

"Man…It's been forever!"

"You're right. It feels like just yesterday to me, though…"

Tadase and Kukai approached the glass greenhouse. They could see the vague outline of the Chairman waiting for them on the inside, sitting at the marble table past the old fountain and through the vibrant, lively plants. Less than a half an hour had passed since class was dismissed.

Almost a year and a half ago, the next generation of the Guardians had taken their places. As Amu Hinamori and company entered the world of middle school, Rikka and Hikaru became the Queen and King of the Guardian Council. Since then, the Joker said farewell to her Charas; Ran, Miki, Su, and Dia; Nagihiko transferred to a sports-oriented school located off the coast of the Hokkaido region, Rima's family ceased to have the ability to afford Seiyo Academy's tuition (therefore also having to transfer,) and Yaya, also due to family difficulties, became homeschooled in order to help take care of her younger brother.

Amu and Tadase hadn't stepped foot in the Royal Garden since the day their successors received their capes. Kukai had no reason to visit anymore with his friends having graduated as he had. Needless to say, none of the other ex-Guardians needed to, either.

The ex-King set his hand in his blazer pocket, hugging his fingers around his Heart's Egg. Kiseki was resting within it. Maturing from Guardianhood, Tadase continued to pursue his would-be self with his Chara as his muse. Kukai and Daichi remained together, too. In the same way, Kukai and Tadase continued to be best friends, and their popularity within the school hadn't deceased in the slightest.

Amu, however, grew to be a secluded and stuck-up teenager, just like she was before becoming a Guardian. However, this time, it wasn't just a façade.

Kukai opened the glass door. He and Tadase strolled inside leisurely, and as they progressed through the interior of the Royal Garden, they gazed around at the various flowers and outdoor furnishings as if they'd never seen any of them before. Soon, they reached the small staircase. They began to ascend. They saw Tsukasa pouring tea into some china glasses, giving them a pleasant smile of salutation.

"Glad you could make it," he greeted.

Tadase nodded in reply.

"You make it sound like we had a choice," Kukai replied, grinning. He and the blonde took places at the table.

"These chairs are smaller than I remember…" Tadase commented. The three of them shared a chuckle.

"That's right. I suppose it has been a while since you've been here," Tsukasa said. He set a glass of tea in front of each of his pupils. "Have you missed this—being a Guardian?"

Tadase took a sip as Kukai eagerly replied, "You bet! Coming back in here brings everything back. My life is so boring compared to when I was a Guardian…Nothing beats the heat of a real battle! I'm busy with sports, which is cool I guess, but after a few years of doing the same thing, it kind of gets a little old."

The blonde traced his finger around the edge of the cup he held. "I can't even remember the last time I transformed…"

Tsukasa grinned, showing his bright teeth. "Well, you're in luck."

There was a pause. The boys, barely understanding his words, looked at him with a baffled straight face.

Tsukasa's own expression faded into something sober.

"We need to bring back the Guardians."

The students exchanged a glance. A moment passed before they turned their inquiring eyes with now slightly pinched brows back to Tsukasa.

"Shall I elaborate?" he added, taking note of their confusion. When their faces didn't change, he went on to explain. "Recently, a strange phenomenon has appeared within the city, and it is acting as a severe threat to the Heart's Eggs of choice suspects. It's only made an appearance on a few occasions—at least from my observations—and these happenings have been extremely haphazard and unpredictable. Nonetheless, it is a severe issue that needs the attention of mature and experienced Guardian Bearers; it's a job that Rikka and Hikaru are incapable of handling, especially by themselves."

Still, the boys' faces remained frozen into a disoriented shape. He smiled again, hoping it would somehow help ease their evident shock.

"…Would it be too much to ask for you two to reclaim your status? You still have your Shugo Charas, don't you?"

The two blinked and suddenly snapped out of their aimless stare toward the Chairman. Tadase eagerly took out Kiseki's egg from his pocket. The golden crown branded on it was visible when he held it up in his fingers. Kukai slipped his egg out of his bag, which was slung over his shoulder, and tossed it between his hands, beaming brightly.

Their new smiles were contagious to Tsukasa. "Superb!" he began again. "Now, do you know if Miss Hinamori still has—? Oh…right. Never mind that. Actually, that leads us to the next issue."

Those smiles were short-lived.

"If you haven't noticed,—and I don't really expect that you have,—X-eggs haven't been popping up as often. I suppose upon first hearing that, it would seem like a good thing, but it's incredibly dangerous. You see, it's because the rate of birth of Guardian Characters in children is decreasing. This ominous entity that is invading the city is destroying children's unborn Heart's Eggs! In itself, this predicament is intensely profound. However, this also means that if no Eggs can be born, then we have no allies to help demolish this threat. Easter's even getting involved."

"This thing destroys Heart's Eggs? How?" Tadase wondered. He instinctively drew his own egg toward himself. Kukai noticed a concerned glint in his eye.

"There's a process to it. I'm sure you'll witness it soon enough. In the meantime, I need you two to be on the lookout for any new Charas among your peers—we'll need at least two more Chairs. I realize that teenage Bearers are generally rarer than their younger counterparts, but I'm afraid that children lack the measure of logic skills that your age group possesses. In fact, I believe adolescent candidates are the most desirable for this job as opposed to even grown adults. And, at the rate children's Eggs are decreasing by, I'd say they'll soon match the rarity of all other age groups anyhow. Of course, the choice is yours whether or not you inherit this responsibility, but if not, we have nowhere else to turn and there's no telling what will happen."

"What, you think we'd say no?" Kukai replied.

"There is no question about it. Things like this are our obligation as Bearers, Chairman," the blonde stated.

"What a relief," Tsukasa said, sighing. "Now, keep your eye open for new recruits until the end of the trimester in two weeks. Come see me then if you have no luck. If the situation gets worse, I'll hold a meeting early. With that, you are dismissed. Have a good evening."

With that indeed, the three of them disbanded. Kukai and Tadase began on their way home, walking side-by-side until they would come to the first intersection.

"So if I'm the King and you're the Jack again, like last time," the blonde started, "then I suppose there's at least the Queen's and Ace's Chairs left to fill."

"Hm… A Queen and an Ace, huh?" the redhead responded, his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, right. Like two Guardian Bearers are going to show up on cue just like we want."

Tadase looked straight ahead of him as he walked. "Hey, summer break will be here in a couple weeks. Maybe—even if nobody can come within a fortnight—people will transfer at the beginning of next term," he suggested. "But I suppose if all this is really as bad as what the Chairman says, then we don't have all that time to wait…"

Both boys became lost in silent thought, still walking down the sidewalk. Finally, Kukai burst, "Well, I just want to see what this whole 'threat' business is about in the first place! Let's see what we can do about it ourselves! Are you with me, King?"

Mirroring his best friend's determined grin, the ex-King answered, "You're right."

They arrived at the intersection. There, they split paths and continued home alone.

~.~`~.~

…_Thump… …Thump…_

The furtive pulse quietly drew in its victim. A small, curious little girl ran off absentmindedly. Was she the only one who heard the throbbing?

…_THUMP… …THUMP…_

Out into a suburban area she ran; the farther she would go, the closer, louder, and more real the rhythmic beat seemed. Soon enough, she lost all recognition of where she was. However, the curious soul only moved further into this trap. She was almost oblivious to the dark aura emitting from each wave. Her heart—unacknowledged by the young girl—was subtly in perfect synch with this suspicious pulse.

…_**THUMP… ba-THUMP…**_

As she neared, no longer was the pulse merely a sound. Not just her heart was beating in rhythm, but her muscles, mind, organs—_all_ of her was yielding to the vicious throbbing of darkness. With each beat, a surge of unbearable, ominous pressure overtook her tiny body and her sight was nothing but an alternating blur of red and black as the waves pressed and receded.

Kukai and Tadase came walking down a common forest path from Kukai's victorious soccer game. No results of any sort had shown up, be it about any transfer students or a threat to anyone's Heart's Eggs, and a week and a half had passed.

The two were slightly surprised when they saw their Guardian Characters, Kiseki and Daichi, appear in front of them suddenly.

"Do you guys feel that?" the mint-haired Chara urgently asked.

Kiseki added, "This is extraordinary, and not in a pleasant way. I've never sensed anything like this before."

Their masters gave each other a quick but clueless look.

"Follow us!"

The two Bearers realized that this was probably Tsukasa's forewarned threat. Without hesitation, they followed their Charas in the direction their instincts led them.

Soon, the four arrived at a clearing in the trees, where they saw a helpless little girl kneeling on the ground, hunched over, desperately trying to scream for a savior to deliver her from her overwhelming pain. However, the merciless Pulse came on so strong she could barely breathe enough to stay conscious, let alone shout with all of her voice.

Tadase and Kukai, accompanied by their Charas, were too petrified to be able to do anything to help her. Tadase was almost afraid, though Kukai could keep his composure.

A glimpse of darkness appeared in front of the girl but disappeared in a dash before the boys could register what it was. Immediately, they saw a flash illuminate the girl's chest. The light was followed by a flood of darkness that bound up the child—only then could she finally let out an agonizing scream before falling pitifully to the dirt floor in unconsciousness.

"Daichi, it's been a while, but…My heart: Unlock!" Kukai finally was able to speak.

"Us too, Kiseki. My heart: Unlock!"

The two instantly revamped into Sky Jack and Platinum Royale. They couldn't help but take a moment to realize how long it really had been and how odd it felt to transform, but they instantly returned to the sight ahead of them.

Out came the Heart's Egg from the seemingly lifeless victim. Before the Character Bearer's eyes, it shattered into innumerable shards of dust.

The two watched in horror, again immobile with shock, as the darkness surrounding the girl flowed inside her heart. She sat up with no emotion written on her face. There was no more pain, no more curiosity. All that stood out was her blank, pupil-less irises that stared towards the boys. She stood to her feet and extended one arm in front of her. It began to glow with a dark indigo ambience, which only a moment later expelled a beam of dark energy straight toward them.

"Holy Crown!"

Tadase's golden shield had barely enough strength to overpower the attack. Behind him, Kukai ascended into the air on his skateboard.

"What are you doing?" Tadase shouted above the vibration of the clashing elements.

"I'll act as a distraction. Try and find a time to use White Decoration or something!"

Platinum Royale nodded in acknowledgement. The possessed child kept an eye on him as she examined the flying skater, lessening the power of her attack unintentionally. Tadase conjured up his remaining strength to counter the dark beam with Holy Crown Special. The forces combusted from their powers' equality, and both sides subsided in their assault.

In this, the girl had lost all interest in Kukai. Just as planned, as she was in the middle of a stare down with Tadase, an explosive mass landed and erupted on the back of her neck.

"Golden Victory Shoot!"

With Kukai's excellent use of his only move, Tadase didn't waste any time.

"White Decoration!" he called, raising his staff. A large burst of light emitted from the tip and showered upon the girl on the ground.

Kukai landed his skateboard. The two of them walked cautiously over to her. She stirred. As she weakly sat up, the boys couldn't sense the darkness in her presence, but her eyes were still faded in some kind of hypnosis. To their surprise, the girl stood onto her feet and walked past them as if they were invisible. Into the distance she walked, not appearing to be going anywhere in particular. Eventually she was out of sight among the trees.

"Well, that was weird," Kukai mumbled after reverting back to his normal character. Daichi appeared beside him.

Tadase, who also returned from his Transformation, remained silent. He gazed into the distance where the girl had disappeared to. "Her…Heart's Egg…" he whispered under his breath.

"Right. That must be why she's still…zombified."

"But…what was that thing that possessed her?" Daichi wondered.

"It's impossible to say." Kiseki muttered. "Tadase, should we report to the Chairman?"

Tadase was still spacing out. The shattering of the egg was a burden replaying itself in his head. A Heart's Egg, to him, was the most precious thing in the world, and seeing it completely destroyed filled him with a petrified sorrow.

"Tadase!" Kukai and the two Guardian Characters shouted. He snapped out of his daze.

"Should we tell the Chairman?" Kukai repeated.

Tadase hesitated before he answered, "Um…I don't think we need to until we see him in a few days."

The others agreed. Then the four of them resumed their walk along the forest path in troubled silence.

~.~`~.~

The door to the seemingly abandoned Planetarium squeaked open when Kukai and Tadase entered. The ceiling, as usual, was shrouded by an illusion of stars. They hoped Tsukasa would be there, seeing that he was nowhere else to be found, but he had yet to make his appearance. In anticipation for his arrival, the two took a seat among the countless rows of vacant chairs. Within a minute of waiting, a blinding illumination lit the building's interior, though it subsided after a few seconds. Tadase and Kukai had to blink a few times before they saw the Chairman standing a couple yards away from them. He had some sort of briefcase in one of his hands; the other held a small device.

"Now that's a _superb_ invention. Those Easter scientists have outdone themselves this time, I'll admit."

The boys exchanged a glance. Tsukasa turned around and saw them there. "Oh, hello," he greeted as he set down the case he held in his one fist.

The to-be King and Jack only stared. Tadase began, "Uh, good afternoon. We came to report that no Bearers have shown up."

Kukai added, "And we also saw that weird entity when it attacked a Heart's Egg a few days ago."

"Ah. Disheartening, isn't it?" said the Chairman. "But you'll be elated to see this discovery. You see, I caught a few Easter employees sneaking around. Apparently, unlike the three scientists from who-remembers-how-long ago who were trying to lure the Embryo out, these ones were able to create what seems to be a flawless teleportation system." He held up the small machine in his hand for them to examine. "They left it behind, unfortunately for them, but fortunately for us. I believe it is not only just a _teleportation _system, but one that has the capability to cross into parallel universes_._"

The boys and their Charas looked up intently at Tsukasa, who was busy swiftly checking his watch. He let out a surprised laugh at the time he read. "You see," he began again, "allowing my adventurous side to take over, I decided to try it out. Risky, yes. I remember checking the time right before I left; my watch read, '3:45 PM,' on the thirteenth of July. Looking at my watch right now, it says…"—he moved his wrist into his vision again—"…'3:47 PM,' still the thirteenth of July. Now, I successfully made it to my destination in what I believe was an alternate universe, where I stayed for about three weeks. As you can hypothesize, time flows differently there, which is how I could tell that I was no longer on the same Earth."

His pupils couldn't believe what they were hearing. They listened without objection.

"When I arrived, the place seemed to resemble an American environment. However, along with the uncanny lapse of time between my departure and my return, another strange fact was that I was indeed spontaneously fluent in American English and I was equipped with American currency. Because of that my theory doesn't waver that this experience wasn't at all just like going to the land over the Pacific Ocean. On a separate note—this is the _excellent _part—I felt like there could be _hope_ that there are Character Bearers attending a certain private school there. Perhaps they don't have Charas of their own yet, but they might wield characteristics that imply that they are nearly ready to call forth their would-be selves! And what's more, this dark force we have been speaking of, which I have codenamed the Threat, has not reached that place."

The boys watched as Tsukasa opened the briefcase at his feet. Once they saw all that was inside, they found it hard not to wonder how he was able to get it closed in the first place.

As he dug around through the case's contents, he said, "Since we can't seem to encounter any transfer students here in our local universe, you two must _become_ them. I have already enrolled you both in the school back across the spacetime plane. I didn't manage to come across the place until about two weeks into my exploration, and I couldn't manage to get you attending before the school year began, unfortunately. By the way, to avoid further confusion, it's mid-September in their time. Now, I have your uniforms for you…"

Kukai and Tadase were still baffled. Apparently they were obliged without choice to travel across the boundaries of the cosmos and search for suitable Council members at a foreign school…by themselves.

The Seiyo Chairman gave them basically everything that was in the briefcase, which included their new schedules, their new teachers, and a few addresses as to where they'd spend their nights.

"You ready for this?" Kukai asked. He and Tadase had made sure they were hidden among the forest's foliage, away from civilization. It was about five in the evening that same day. They managed to fit everything they needed in their schoolbags, including their Heart's Eggs, where Daichi and Kiseki were residing.

Tadase nodded his head in response. The redhead took the small device from Easter in one hand; he examined the surface, but without knowing he had done something, it suddenly began to react. It vibrated rapidly and emitted small electric charges. Tadase and Kukai were slightly unsettled in their lack of knowledge of what it was doing. After a second or two, the machine began to calm down, and in front of the boys' eyes appeared some sort of portal. It glowed with a white light that made it impossible to see what was on the other side. The scenery around them seemed two-dimensional in the way the hole defied the laws of nature. The boys, knowing what had to be done, exchanged a glance and nodded before cautiously stepping into the curious brightness.

The next thing they knew, they felt a brick wall to their backs and coniferous tree branches in their faces. The two looked at each other then at their unfamiliar surroundings. They noticed how the temperature had dropped at least ten degrees from a few seconds ago.

"…Where are we?" Tadase muttered, beginning to walk out from behind the row of pine trees. Somehow, he felt really strange after speaking.

"…Holy crap! We really _do_ speak fluent English!" Kukai exclaimed. He followed Tadase out into the sidewalk.

The first thing they saw (aside from the nearly vacant parking lot) was the glass entrance to a decently-sized building, the name "Radiant Life Christian School" set above it on the stone surface.


	2. A Lucky Expedition

**Thank you Heart-Quill for the review:3 And from now I will be only posting a chapter once a week or two. Things will pick up soon, hope you enjoy! **

**Don't be too bashful to leave a review!**

**Now let's get to it!**

* * *

_/Soon, they were all enveloped into the light./_

The two didn't make any attempt to approach the school's entrance. They stood there in behold of the building, residing in which were supposed to be the potential Guardians. Unfortunately, their nerves took over them and inflicted them with severe paralysis—finding out just a couple hours ago that they had to attend this random school in a complete other universe was enough of an excuse to be overwhelmed. However, neither of them wanted to show it physically.

"Hey, Kukai, what time is it?" Tadase finally asked.

Kukai checked his watch. He flinched. "Seven forty-six A.M. It's…Wednesday, September seventh," he replied.

Tadase hesitated. "Well…class starts at eight, right? We should…probably…go in."

Kukai nodded, but none of them moved for a second. Eventually they took a few awkward steps towards the entrance. In their heads, they both agreed that this whole scenario was going a bit too fast to be mentally prepared for. They stopped in front of the glass doors, gave each other an awkward look, and then hesitantly grabbed the handles with shaky hands.

The two entered the main lobby. They walked about five steps forward and looked around the extremely unfamiliar area. There was no receptionist at the main desk, but people could be seen in the office.

"Tsukasa said to meet with the other students in the Education Gym," Tadase whispered.

Kukai looked to his right, and found nothing besides what appeared to be ordinary classrooms lined up in a hallway. He and Tadase looked to their left to find an extension of the lobby with a few upperclassmen in high school hanging around another desk that read 'Information,' but nobody appeared to be running it, either. The two of them decided it would be in their best interest to head in that direction. They tried their best to act as if they were entering their own school, but that was immensely easier said than done…mostly because of the extreme lack of girls cheering their names.

The redhead elbowed his friend, urging him to look more nonchalant, like he himself was trying to do. They awkwardly passed by the other students. Luckily, the gymnasium they were seeking wasn't difficult to find.

With one more quick exchange of looks, Tadase opened one of the promising double doors. Kukai followed behind him. They took a few steps inside, scanning the room filled with active students, either chatting with their cliques or competing on the court. A few people would glance at the two unfamiliar boys, and not thinking too much of them, return to their previous activity.

Kukai looked around casually. The blonde did a good job acting calm, as well, until his eyes wandered over to the stage…it was then that his stomach fell into a performance of somersaults all over again, except this time with a bisected heart rate and a lightly flushing face.

Hearing a strange sigh from beside him, the redhead looked down at his friend, who had completely transformed into a character he had never seen before. He was slightly confused to see a blissful smile on Tadase's pink face (and to see the hearts he swore were in his eyes). Raising an eyebrow in question, the redhead directed his gaze to where the blonde had his eyes planted.

Standing about four yards in the distance stood two stunningly beautiful girls looking in their direction. One had fine tanned, bronze skin with thin, silky brunette hair that almost reached her waist. Around her neck, she wore a beaded choker and a blue heart-shaped necklace on a silver chain. The other girl had fair ivory skin and wore a white oxford tucked into khaki slacks with a black skinny belt: a noticeably fancier outfit compared to the rest of the student's plain uniforms. A pair of high-heeled ankle boots completed the look. Her multi-layered hair, which rested well down her chest, was an eccentric blondish-reddish color and was decorated by a large black rose made of tulle on a headband. She had a necklace that matched the other girl's, aside from its magenta color. She also wore a blackish-silver chain holding a large rose charm of the same charcoal shade. They were about the same height.

As Tadase's eyes had browsed toward the stage, he had seen the ivory girl avert her gaze to look in what he assumed was his direction. The meeting of their eyes made his pulse instantly fall out of rhythm, which was followed by the other symptoms of head-over-heel infatuation. She gave him an innocently confused look due to the fact that she had never seen him before, but for whatever reason—whether it be seeing how cute he looked, noticing how he was nearly _gawking_ at her, or just out of friendliness—she shot him a warm smile before looking shortly at Kukai and then back to the girl she was accompanying.

When Kukai looked to see what was causing Tadase's extreme change in character, the first thing he saw was the brunette. He couldn't deny she possessed attractive physical appeal. Seeing that her eyes were already set upon him, he found it acceptable to send her a flirty smirk from afar in hope of some kind of hit-off. She appeared to register the sly smile but looked away with her friend's light tap on the side of her shoulder.

Kukai began coolly walking up to them, looking back at his friend with a welcoming smile as he gestured his head toward the girls. He leisurely jogged ahead. Tadase's infatuated expression was traded out for a nervous one, but he hastily followed behind him anyway.

* * *

"Oh my gosh! That was hilarious!"

"I know, right? I kinda saw it coming, though."

"Yeah, but still! It was so…"

It was a normal morning for Makayla and Sera. They were standing in one of their usual spots near the stage, discussing things within their usual range of topics; nothing out of the ordinary.

Their conversation was slightly interrupted when the gym's door opened. The two of them didn't bother to look over to see who had come—they never usually did if they were enjoying each other's exchanged words. They continued on as if nobody had entered.

"But, I mean seriously! I couldn't get over that."

"Right?"

…Soon, Sera developed the odd, cliché feeling that she was being stared at. Since the conversation wasn't really going anywhere else, she turned her head to the doors, and she saw standing in the distance two extremely unfamiliar boys. One of them was taller and had reddish-brown hair that was almost long enough to break the handbook. He seemed to have an ego the way he glanced around the gymnasium with his bag over his shoulder. The other, well…It was hard to tell what he was really like by looking at him. He was gazing right at her, and she felt somewhat uncomfortable, but he had an unusual vibe about him that made him seem gentle, kind, and handsome at that, which made his odd stare seem not as creepy as it was flattering. As for his appearance, he was probably a few inches shorter than the other boy, and had light blonde hair with a couple loose locks that complimented his heart-shaped face. Sera felt her cheeks warm up slightly. She gave him a quick smile (which was against her usual unreceptive composure toward guys) before turning back to Makayla, who had apparently also been inspecting the new faces.

She had been admiring the redhead, especially, whose emerald eyes flickered around in the direction of the gym's court. Shortly, he looked over at the boy beside him, and then, to her internal surprise, in her direction. He appeared as if he was examining her for a second before he shot her a seductive grin. Before she could fully react, she felt Sera tap her on the side of her shoulder, which quickly brought her back to earth. Giving one last glance back at the guys, she returned to her and her friend's conversation. But before they could really start anything…

* * *

"Hey, uh…" Kukai began.

The girls looked over to see the redhead come to a stop from his stride. Now that he had come closer, it was visible that he was about an inch taller than the brunette. Tadase came walking from behind him, calm in appearance, but nerves rushing on the inside.

"Good morning. Sorry to interrupt you, but we're sudden transfer students and today is our first day attending here. We were just making sure we're where we need to be," the blonde explained with a friendly, charismatic voice and an alluring smile. As he spoke, he would make eye contact with the ivory girl, glance over at the brunette, and return his gaze back to the first. Kukai noticed that his charm powers were in action…and he set them abnormally high whenever he faced the strawberry-blonde.

The girls exchanged a glance. "Uh, yeah, you're in the right place," the brunette assured.

Kukai sighed with relief before muttering, "That's good to know." He looked at the girls in front of him, and then to Tadase before coolly speaking, "I'm Kukai Souma."

"And my name is Tadase Hotori. Is it alright if we have your names?" the blonde sweetly voiced after him.

"Oh, I'm Makayla Delmar," greeted the brunette.

"I'm Sera Kay. Welcome," followed the voice of the ivory-skinned girl.

_Sera…Sera…I have to be sure and remember that…_Tadase recited to himself in his mind. "It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintances," he stated. Kukai nodded in agreement with his statement.

"You too," Sera replied.

"What grade are you guys in?" Makayla decided to ask before an awkward silence could take over.

"Ninth," Kukai replied bluntly.

"Eighth," said Tadase, also in response.

Sera smiled. "Oh, cool. We're in eighth, too," she told them. Be it even slightly, she was sure she saw the corners of the blonde boy's lips rise  
even more.

Soon, the girls noticed people beginning to gather at the gym's doors. Seeing this, they turned around and picked up their schoolbags off of the ground. Confused, Kukai checked his watch.

"It isn't even seven fifty yet. What's—" he began.

"We're dismissed ten minutes before first period," Makayla explained.

"It should be quite convenient for you two. You'll have time to find your classes and whatnot," Sera added.

It was at that time that the bell rang. The girls, carrying their bags, walked off between the boys. "See you guys later!" they chirped in unison as they threw them one last glance before striding toward the door. The guys turned their torsos as necessary to watch them proceed.

In Tadase and Kukai's vision, they seemed to walk gracefully ahead in slow motion. Their scents blew in a gust of wind as they passed. The way they carried themselves and their luggage was so stunning—even though they weren't doing it intentionally—that it left the boys without movement once again. Tadase resumed his blissful mindset and expression, while Kukai watched with raised brows and his lips forming a small _o_.

_She__ has what it takes to be a Guardian…_ they both whispered in their heads to themselves, each referring to their preferred of the two girls, whose manner of walking was even apparently enough to make them swoon.

The boys were only able to move again once the objects of their attention had turned the corner out the gym doors. They jogged out of the gymnasium and started off to find their classes.

* * *

"So, what'd you think of those new guys?" Makayla asked Sera as the two were getting their things settled in for first period. The strawberry-blonde noticed how her friend spoke with a slightly mischievous tone.

"Well, I think it's really strange for students to transfer in at a time like this," she replied, placing a few books where appropriate. "We've only been in school for a week and a half. You'd figure they would have just come at the beginning of the year."

"…Yeah, but that's not exactly what I was _talking_ about, you know," the brunette said while playfully elbowing Sera in the shoulder.

"Well, then, you should probably be a bit more straightforward."

Makayla gave an impatient sigh. "Which one do you think is cuter, then?"

Sera rested a finger over her lips in thought. "I mean, I think it was cute to find the blonde one staring at me, but…"

"…Wait, what?"

The 8:00 bell rang distantly.

"Oh, you didn't see? Were you too busy gawking at the other one?" she teased.

"Shut up," Makayla denied in response, smiling. "I was _not_. …You can't deny the redhead was cute, though. He's kind of…my type, don't you think?"

Sera giggled. "If you say so," she began, "but I don't exactly know him well enough to judge his personality yet."

"Huh. I guess. But what were you saying about the other one staring at you?"

"…Oh, geez."

* * *

First period ensued. Tadase had successfully found his class, but the contents of the course were inferior to the lovely strawberry-blonde: how she spoke so sweetly, how her shoes clicked when she walked, her incredible fashion sense, (he considered the fact that she was cleverer at dressing up a uniform than even Amu,) and all the mysteries about her that still remained. These things endlessly plagued his mind as he participated in taking notes. Regardless of his mental distractions, he managed to portray himself to others in the class as the respectable, intelligent person he was, mostly because he was able to snap out of his trance on cue. Toward the end of class, a girl in braids had approached him and introduced herself out of kindness, recognizing him as a new student. After establishing some small talk, she told him that her friend Sera had an interest in Japanese culture (not even knowing _he_ was from such a place, but merely talking about the people she knew), and soon afterwards, he left the class even more eager to see her.

* * *

"I still can't believe I'm the only ninth grader in this class. Couldn't they have fit me into the high school Phys Ed course?" the redhead complained. He and Tadase were jogging side-by-side back on the gym court the following period.

"At least we have a class together. How'd first period go?" the blonde asked. His eyes flickered around the area, trying to find the girl who was occupying his thoughts. He didn't see her.

His friend let out a groan. "Ugh, I couldn't find my locker, first of all, and then I couldn't figure out where the heck my classroom was. So I get there _three_ seconds after the bell, right? The freaking teacher writes me up! She didn't cut me slack for it being my first day or anything!" he explained. "And who the heck holds an English course first period, anyway? Not a single person could stay awake!"

He continued to rant on that topic for a minute more before a large distraction subconsciously caused his voice fade off. His eye caught the brunette—the one he had met earlier that morning—pacing in the distance. She ran effortlessly across the waxed gym floor with flawless poise. Her shining locks neatly trailed behind her in the air, and her bronze legs were beautifully toned. Kukai slowed down slightly in behold of her, but quickly hastened again. He passed by Tadase (who was giving him a curious look), saying, "Hey, I'm going ahead, okay?"

The redhead turned a corner and managed to catch up to the girl's side.

* * *

Her plan had worked. Makayla always had a thing with purposely (and successfully!) trying to impress people. She made sure to look as striking as she could in the things she did best; in this case, athletics. She had seen the new guys come into class, and she immediately decided to try to get Kukai's attention. Soon enough, she had felt the vibrations of somebody approaching her from behind, and was mentally celebrating when she reeled in the exact person she wanted.

"Hey. …Makayla, right?"

The brunette turned her head and nodded with a smile at the boy that now jogged beside her.

"You seem pretty athletic. What lap are you on?" he asked her.

Makayla turned her vision straight ahead of her again. "Third," she answered.

"I guess we're tied, then," Kukai commented, also looking forward. He slightly hastened his pace to slowly begin to pass the girl, but it wasn't long before she took notice and jogged a bit faster to catch up and speed ahead of him. Kukai eyed her with the slight burn of competition in his gaze, which flared up all the more when she turned her head back to face him, wearing a taunting smirk. He sped past her again. She followed suit. Soon, they were both sprinting at full speed, their shoulders jammed together in an attempt to push one's self ahead of the other. They glared with unbreakable intensity into each other's eyes with determination to become the victor. Poor Tadase was lapped by them at least twice.

_"__**I finished first!**__"_ the two shouted simultaneously as soon as they concluded the seventh lap.

"…No you didn't!" their voices bellowed again when they realized they both had declared themselves winner, which was completely incorrect in one and the other's eyes.

"Yes I did!" they argued again in unison, pointing to their own self.

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did!"

"No you didn't!"

They continued on in this manner, returning to their stare-down in which their persistence was so strong that they might as well be burning holes through each other's heads. They weren't tired one bit from the running, but had flaming energy flowing through their blood instead.

"Well, let's settle this with push-ups, then," Makayla eventually proposed.

"Bring it on!" Kukai asserted with a smirk. Immediately, they both dropped to the ground on their palms and toes and began their set of fifteen reps.

When Kukai looked over, he was exceptionally impressed to see her executing _legit_ full-body push-ups, her nose touching the floor and everything. He soon turned his attention back to himself, trying to get in fifteen as fast as possible.

As he looked back, Makayla peered over in his direction, and saw how effortlessly he seemed to be flashing through the exercise. Being the determined soul she was, she looked away with intentions on finishing first.

The war resumed when the two jumped up at exactly the same time. They argued for a minute more.

"Sit-ups!"

"You're on!"

The competition continued in the same manner.

* * *

Warm ups eventually ended, and neither of them had conquered the other. Upon being picked for different volleyball teams, Kukai and Makayla agreed that the 'winner' of their competition would be decided by the outcome of the game, which ended up being tied when they were dismissed to change uniforms.

"This isn't over," they snapped at each other, wearing competitive grins on their faces as they both walked out the gym's doors.

It was obvious to the observing Tadase that they were both impressed with each other.

* * *

Sera had a productive first two periods despite the distracting thoughts about the blonde transfer student. Thanks to her best friend's inquiry earlier that morning, she couldn't seem to get him off her mind. Despite this, she still had absolutely no idea what to think of him.

All she knew was what she had seen. He obviously admired her. He seemed courteous, but she couldn't help but question whether or not it was just how he presented himself as a first impression. He possessed her favorite physical characteristics: light hair, light skin tone, and light eyes (all of which were strangely paired with an Asian face, her favorite ethnicity); average height, slim weight. Not to mention, he appeared to be hygienic and organized. But still, who could really make an accurate judgment after only having spoken to him for a minute at the most? She wondered if he'd be in any of her classes. If so, she wanted to figure out exactly who he was and determine whether or not he would be a waste of her time. She pondered most of these things in her second period study hall where interruption would be less likely.

Eventually the time came for her to proceed to third period. Once there sitting in her seat, she frequently flicked her eyes to the door from her lonely lab desk in the corner of the room in search of that boy. Sure enough…

* * *

Tadase took a confident stride into his next class. The first thing he did was find the instructor, who was standing near the front of the room setting up the projector.

* * *

As soon as she noticed him, the strawberry-blonde brought her eyes down to her lap where she had her binder open. She watched him through her peripheral vision as he approached the teacher. She found herself praying, _God, there's a nice empty chair beside me…_

About a minute had passed before she could hear the footsteps coming her way. She hadn't even said "Amen" before she looked up to see the boy's handsome face gazing upon hers like earlier that morning. She couldn't help but smile back.

Although she had been mulling over him and his great features the whole morning, she hadn't realized until right then that she was actually _attracted_ to him. When she had met him that morning, she certainly hadn't experienced the acceleration of her arteries like she was feeling right then.

The two of them were unmoving for a few moments. The exchange of their expressions was like a greeting (or even a conversation) in itself, as if they had been best friends for years, yet they knew next to nothing about each other.

As if she had telepathy, Sera slid her books over and cleared a space for him. "You're assigned to sit here, I assume?" she inquired, gesturing to the now empty seat. She was genuinely shocked with herself that she managed to keep her voice steady, let alone maintain eye contact without feeling shy. Maybe it was the fact that he was staring at her first, or maybe it was because of the unique social aura he possessed.

Tadase, who was unabashedly charmed by her own lovely expression, sweetly replied, "Indeed. Thank you," as he claimed the unoccupied seat. "I look forward to having class together."

"Likewise," she assured.

They hadn't broken their mutual gaze for even a second. Soon, as silence dictated between them, the action became more subconscious as if their eyes had taken over the conversation once again. It was only when the bell rang for the initiation of class that they snapped out of it. Even then, the two grinned a little wider at each other and their eyes brightened up in an extra lively manner as if to say, "It was nice talking to you."

The period began. As Sera turned away from the boy and opened her textbook, she fervently praised God from within the privacy of her thoughts.

Tadase couldn't help but continually take glances of her as the instructor began to give directions. He noticed how her smile remained after their staring session had ended, and even though he couldn't decipher whether it was because of talking to him or if she just plain liked chemistry, he still thought she was incredibly beautiful—her glowing skin, her brilliant hair color, her adorable facial features, and her benign manners particularly stood out to him. So badly did he want to compliment her on _something_, but being only at second meeting, he'd probably seem either desperate or creepy. He just hoped this seating arrangement would bring along many conversations.

Then, he heard something about an in-class assignment…

Sera knew that sketching molecular bonds would be significantly more interesting now that she had a gorgeous, charismatic angel accompanying her. However, her imagination wasn't so extreme as to think that he would inquire of her partnership. Of course, she considered the thought, but she deemed it unlikely and didn't get her hopes up and prepared to work alone (which was her preference anyhow). As far as she knew, he could have already made friends with other students earlier in the morning.

When the professor came around to hand out the papers, Tadase took initiative and placed one sheet within the small stack neatly in front of the strawberry-blonde before taking one for himself (and then passing on the other copies).

"Oh—thanks," she said politely but casually, looking to him again.

"Pleasure is mine. May I have permission to work with you, Miss Sera?"

She was trapped in his gaze again. "…Certainly," she replied.

He was purely elated when she accepted his offer. Working together was the perfect excuse for him to admire her.

All throughout the session, the boy proved himself to be a sharp and admirable young gentleman. Sera was taken aback by how diligent he was—part of her had been scared that he'd just be hitting on her the whole time they were working together, but instead, she found that he was incredibly responsible. Although she did catch him glancing unnecessarily at her from time to time and committing other acts of flirting, it didn't take away from their productivity. The two of them ended up being the first group to finish. Class was almost out.

"Hey," the girl brought up, "you and your friend can sit with Makayla and me at lunch, if you have nowhere else to."

"…That sounds great! Thanks," Tadase hesitated after snapping out of his daze. In his mind, he had questioned if his beloved romantic interest had actually invited him to lunch.

* * *

"We meet again, Miss Competitive."

_Oh, great,_ Makayla mused, hearing an extremely familiar voice sneer at her. She looked up from the papers she was examining in front of her to see the redhead standing on the other side of the desk beside her, his schoolbag slung over his shoulder just like earlier. He was smirking.

"Hey, you have _no_ room to talk, Mister Antagonistic," she pointed out, wearing a smirk of her own.

"How creative," Kukai muttered as he slid a chair out and sat down across from her. "I want to make it clear that I'm not going to compete in academics, though."

"Good thing for you," answered the brunette as she looked back down at the papers. "Math's my best subject."

Kukai thought she was cute when she tried to act high-and-mighty, but at the same time he was sharply irked by her attitude.

Almost immediately, the class began. The Algebra teacher began passing out a review sheet that apparently corresponded to an upcoming assessment.

Kukai looked blankly at the paper. He knew he should have probably known this stuff already, seeing as he was a grade above her. Even so, none of the equations made any measure of sense whatsoever. All that mattered, though, was that the girl never find out that math was his worst nightmare. At least he wouldn't have to take the test with the rest of the class.

As he searched through his bag to find a pen, Makayla _swore_ she saw something strange among his things…it was bright blue and it was egg-shaped.

* * *

Third period had come to an end, and lunch had just begun.

Makayla was seated at an otherwise vacant table, waiting for Sera. The two of them had become extremely comfortable sitting by themselves rather than amongst other friends. Reason being, they tend to be in their own separate conversation from everyone else anyway, and nobody seems to really care what they're talking about. Eventually, the rest of their friends found them to be generally annoying and just kicked them out of the table.

Sera walked into the cafeteria casually, and as she turned her head and saw her best friend at their usual table, she smiled and made her way over with haste.

"Hey. I invited the new guys to sit with us today. I hope you don't mind," Sera informed after grabbing plastic utensils and ranch dressing for her salad.

"Not at all," replied the brunette with a smile.

"Okay, good. Just making sure."

The strawberry-blonde saw Tadase enter the room past the heads of all the eating students. He seemed to be scanning the cafeteria, possibly in search. Once he turned his head to some degree, he saw Sera waving at him with a highly raised arm and an eager smile. He immediately headed over.

Only a handful of seconds later, he sat across from Makayla nearest to the bench's edge and greeted both of them. The three of them shared a short conversation before Makayla's keen eye spotted the redhead, who seemed to be stuck to her all that day so far. Kukai apparently had spotted Tadase, so he swiftly made his way over next to him.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" he greeted naturally, shoving Tadase down the bench and sliding his meal aside with his tray, easily stealing the blonde's seat.

The girls laughed a little.

Tadase attempted to continue their previous conversation, but for the most part it ended up just being between him and Sera once Makayla lost interest…or got distracted, either one. Even then, the two couldn't really continue talking before they noticed Kukai and the brunette staring each other down. To Tadase, it seemed like the millionth time that day this had happened.

"Straight-face contest," Sera assumed aloud, beginning to watch them with an amused expression, resting her chin on her palm in anticipation.

Anticipation for Makayla's well-known secret weapon for an instant win in straight-face contests, that is.

"…The crap? What the heck is that!?" Kukai asserted, now automatically but unintentionally left defeated. He watched Makayla as the nostrils of her nose wrinkled and flared spontaneously and almost unnaturally, the only thing piquing attention on her otherwise blank face. Sera broke out into a bunch of soft laughs, covering her mouch with her hand, at Kukai's reaction. Makayla followed suit. Tadase wore a slightly confused expression in reaction to the brunette's supernatural nose.

"Oh, man. You should have seen us in gym!" Makayla brought up, elbowing Sera in the arm. Suddenly, the strawberry-blonde noticed Tadase make an agreeable expression while Kukai chuckled.

"T'was intense," stated the blonde boy.

"You bet it was. Miss _Competitive _wanted to make everything a race!" the redhead blamed, pointing at the stunned brunette.

"That is _so not true!_ _You_ started it!" Makayla vociferated.

"Just because I sped up a little bit while doing laps? You _made _that a competition!"

"Well, _you_ went along with it!"

"_You_ extended it when you thought you could kick my butt at push-ups!"

"_Thought _I could? I wasn't too far off, either! We finished at the same time!"

"You just wouldn't accept defeat."

"Huh! Yeah! Look who's talking!"

The argument went on in this manner. Soon, the two were immaturely sneering at each other and exchanging other childish sounds of oral origination. Tadase and Sera exchanged an amused glance.

"Looks like _you two _have made friends quickly haven't you?" the strawberry-blonde voiced.

Suddenly, the two laughed sheepishly. Being contagious, Tadase and Sera couldn't hold back from laughing either.

* * *

The rest of lunch went generally well. Afterwards came fourth period. Makayla and Sera had the Religion course next.

"Okay, enough about the war between Kukai and me. What about you and the other guy?" Makayla inquired eagerly towards her friend. She noticed her face pink up slightly.

"Way to jump to conclusions, Makayla," she responded.

"Oh, come on. You invited him to sit with us. I have a feeling something built up to that."

"What's wrong with being friendly?"

Makayla gave her a skeptical look.

"Okay. Whatever. He stared at me again during IPS and I decided to give him an opportunity, you know?"

"That's not all."

Sera sighed. "Fine. You win. He sits next to me in IPS, and he was totally a…a…Prince sent from Heaven. We were doing a packet in class today, and he ever so charmingly asked to work with me! Not only is he the best-looking guy I've ever seen in person, or that he's chivalrous, or respectful, but he's also rational and intelligent! He also appears to be very self-assured and he's kind of flirty…" she rambled.

Makayla was seriously intrigued. She had _never_ in her life heard Sera go off about a boy like that. Usually when a guy tries to flatter her or make her laugh, she rejects them with closed-off body language and refuses to keep a conversation going. The brunette leaned back in her seat with her arms intertwined across her chest wearing a mischievous smirk as she listened.

"Maybe I'm over-thinking this?" Sera stopped when she realized her friend's expression. "…Okay, you can stop with the look now."

"Well, aren't you two _cute_?" Makayla cooed. "That kid did seem to have an outgoing nature…but only around you."

"You think so…?"

Makayla laughed teasingly. "Yeah. He's really quiet everywhere else. At least he was in gym class."

Sera hummed and began to stare into space. Her best friend kept right on snickering.

* * *

The rest of the day wasn't tooterribly as interesting in comparison to the morning. Kukai's fifth-period Theology class included slight teacher-student conflict, as usual. Makayla, Sera and Tadase all joined the same Literature class, and Makayla examined with amusement as her best friend and new acquaintance alternated glances with each other. Those two shared their Algebra class sixth period, but they couldn't achieve adjacent seating. They were able to continue the small glimpsing upon the other, but Makayla missed out that period, being in IPS.

During seventh period, Tadase met his crush again in Choir, where he fell even harder when he heard her angelic soprano vocals. Kukai met his history teacher who was _exactly_ like his Theo teacher, which called for another stubborn argument. He ended up with another notice of correction and was forced to take out his earrings.

Last period, Makayla, Sera, and Tadase shared an insignificant Language course, in which the instructor was plagued with mood swings and was obviously far along in pregnancy.

* * *

Kukai and Tadase were walking down the sidewalk of the school's busy road shortly after the three-twenty bell, following Tsukasa's lame instructions to some random address. They were exhausted—at least Tadase was. Thinking about it, neither of them had actually slept for about eighteen hours. They woke up early for school at Seiyo Academy, then after being awake for the day they traveled across time and space, and then they went through another seven-hour school session. Although Tadase was physically about to drop, his mind was too worked up, overwhelmed with thoughts about the beloved strawberry-blonde.

Floating nearby the two were the boys' Guardian Characters, now broken out of their egg-shaped prisons. Daichi was overflowing with energy after being bored in Kukai's bag all that day. Kiseki was simultaneously complaining about having been trapped in his egg for all those hours on end, but soon, the Monarch Chara changed the subject.

"Now, Tadase, explain who that girl was," the lavender-headed Character demanded.

"The tan one or the white one?" Kukai asked in clarification.

"The respectable one with the pleasant voice and queenlike attributes."

"Yup, that's _definitely_ the white one," muttered the redhead.

"Makayla would kick your butt if she heard you say that," Daichi snickered.

Kiseki looked intently upon his master for him to speak. All that managed to escape the blonde's lips was a blissful sigh. "What's there to explain? You hit the nail on the head, Kiseki."

The Monarch Chara gave a chuckle. "I like that young lady. Let's make her Queen's Chair right now!"

"Oh—that's right. We're supposed to be searching for potential bearers…" Tadase muttered. "Did you sense that she was about to obtain her Heart's Egg?"

Kiseki nodded. "Yes, in fact. It may be ready to be born soon."

Daichi agreed. "I felt that with the other girl, too. No mistake about that."

Kukai smirked. Tadase smiled widely.

"Speaking of the other girl…" the blonde started.

"Hm?" Kukai murmured, looking down at him.

"She seems like a perfect fit for you."

Kukai's face heated up. "What are you talking about?" he asked, looking away stubbornly.

"I think so, too, Kukai! She's much better than un-sporty Utau! All she does is eat ramen and sing!" Daichi backed up.

"That 'tan one' as you say is basically a female mirror of an unfulfilling Jack such as you…" Kiseki muttered, half to himself.

"Humph. You guys aren't usually ones to tease, especially you, twerp," he said, flicking Daichi in the forehead. "I don't _like_ her, if that's what you all are getting at."

Exactly. He was a jock. Society's stereotype makes it so he's only concerned about sports, and so he's not typically supposed to be romantically interested in anyone, even if it was a certain athletic, adamant and competitive girl who was extremely pretty and…okay, maybe he thought all those things about her. But he wasn't going to tell _anyone_ that.

"Of course, when it comes to Tadase and the blonde-redhead girl, that's different," Kukai brought up, changing the subject. "You obviously seemed to win her over."

"Y-you think so?"

"Haha! I approve, Tadase! That ignorant Hinamori was _never_ going to be the right one! Only a girl with _class_ and _respect_ is worthy of a becoming King like yourself!" Kiseki bellowed in approval.

The four continued walking down the sidewalk, continuing to discuss such topics. They had made it through the first day.

* * *

Monday, September 12th.

Sera stood against the white brick gym wall, watching with a bored smile toward the court. She turned her head at the sound of the doors opening, and was relieved to see none other than Tadase and Kukai walking her way.

"Good morning," Tadase greeted.

"Good morning to you," the strawberry blonde said in return.

Kukai sighed in his loathe of the obvious chemistry between the two. It got old for him quickly. He soon realized the brunette's absence.

"Uh, where's Makayla?" he asked, interrupting his friends' chat unintentionally.

The strawberry-blonde after registering his question turned and pointed to the court, where the object of the conversation had just shot a perfect three-pointer. Kukai gaped with a loosened jaw at the basketball net, which created a taunting _"swoosh" _as the shot passed flawlessly through the metal ring.

The brunette glanced over to see the redhead reacting as such, and smirked.

"This is not how it's going down…" Kukai whispered to himself, dropping his bag by Tadase's feet and heading in her direction.

"Chara Change!"

Tadase's head snapped nervously in his direction as he heard the trigger. He wasn't supposed to risk blowing their cover like that!

For a second, Sera thought she heard an unnaturally-pitched male voice, which was muffled and seemed to originate from…Kukai's bag?

"What!?" Daichi vociferated as he poked his head out of his egg that was now compacted between several books upon roughly being dropped onto the hard gym floor. He took the words right out of Tadase's mouth.

The blonde scolded himself in his head not to make _any_ contact with Kukai's possessions.

* * *

"Oh, hey, Ku—"

Kukai, interrupting her sarcastic greeting, said, "Nice three-pointer. Want to see something even more impressive?"

"Think you can do better? Don't push your luck. Basketball's my specialty!"

The redhead let out a blunt laugh. "I'll show you!" he declared in confidence as he picked up an unused ball off of the gym floor before jogging and dribbling to the mid-court line.

The brunette crossed her arms, following the ball with her eyes as he aimed and shot.

_Swoosh._

She rapidly turned around to meet his boastful expression. She stood there in defeat, trying to say things of objection, but in their place came only either empty breaths or whines from her lips.

Every student on that side of the court couldn't say anything either, including Tadase or Sera. The strawberry-blonde merely laughed at the response of her friend. Tadase let his head fall hopelessly into his palm at the extremely unfair advantage of his would-be self, which would without a doubt bring questions from Makayla.

* * *

"What was that about this morning!?" Tadase inquired during P.E., sounding more worried than upset.

Kukai gave a curious look. "Oh, about the Change? Come on! No harm came out of that, did it?" he whispered.

"Potentially, yes! If those girls are as clever as they are book-smart, you'll have blown our cover! Especially Makayla. Easily she could become suspicious if she relates your Change symbol to your athletic skill, especially seeing that it disappeared minutes later!"

Kukai sighed. "You're thinking too hard!" he started, nudging him in the shoulder. "Come on. It's the first time she's ever seen me with a basketball in my hands. She didn't even see the star in my hair. Even if she did, it's not like she's really going to assume that it's magical and gives me supernatural athletic powers. That's ridiculous!" he explained.

Tadase still felt uncomfortable. "Whatever. Just don't do it again, please. When you did it the first time, Daichi freaked out and I'm worried Sera heard him," he sighed.

Kukai flinched. "Okay, I see where you're going with that. I'll be sure to yell at him later."

"Yell at whom?" Makayla asked as she was stalking quietly behind the two.

The boys tensed up upon hearing the familiar voice. They turned around slowly, hoping not to see who they thought they heard. When they did, they both began to freak out mentally, more so in Tadase's case.

Makayla laughed devilishly at their expressions, seeing that she had been successful in startling them.

"How much of that conversation did you pick up on?" Tadase asked cautiously.

"I dunno. I only heard what Kukai said just now. Why? Was I not supposed to hear anything?"

Tadase hesitated. Kukai looked at him anxiously.

"Well, it-it's an invasion of privacy!" the blonde reciprocated.

"I bet there's more to it than that," Makayla persisted. Seeing the guys' stressed faces, she laughed again before assuring, "I'm just messing with you!"

The boys relaxed from their tension.

"Hey, I bet I can finish laps before you, Kukai!" the brunette said, racing ahead slightly, then turning back to the two as she jogged backwards.

"You're on!" the redhead accepted.

Tadase gave him a serious look. "Whatever you do, don't use your—" he began to whisper, but Kukai was already a quarter around the court's perimeter trying to catch up to the girl before he could finish. "…Change."

* * *

"Hey," the redhead said in salutation third period the next day.

"Hey," Makayla answered, watching as he threw his bag from his shoulder onto the desk beside him.

"You doing anything this week?" he said again, now sitting.

Makayla gave him a confused look.

_Is he asking me out?_

She flashed through a thousand thoughts that were gone before she could register them, but after a moment she subconsciously remembered that she needed to answer his question.

"Well, I'm busy this week until Thursday…" she replied, intentionally highlighting the hint of question in her voice.

"Hmm…Thursday I have detention…How's Friday?"

"…I'm…free. Why?"

"Well, I mean, I wanted to take you on in some more basketball after school sometime. I heard there was open gym this week."

Makayla gave an uncertain grin as she noticed his slight stuttering as he spoke. It didn't _sound_ too much like a date, but who knows what _he_ classed as one? All assumptions of that sort vanished once he continued.

"Tadase's going to be there, too, if you wanted to invite Sera."

Okay, unless if it was an uneventful and extremely casual double-date, it couldn't possibly be anything more than a regular get-together, she supposed. Finally considering the opportunity, she thought it would actually be exciting.

"Friday works," she said with a smile that Kukai returned. "Actually, open gym is what's keeping me busy."

* * *

At lunch, Makayla found it to be a good time to invite Sera, who once told of the friendly meeting immediately couldn't wait.

* * *

The rest of Tuesday passed, as did Wednesday. Kukai's long Thursday passed, as well.

After a very excruciating eighth period that Friday, the 3:20 bell finally gave the students permission to be dismissed. Tadase, Makayla, and Sera made their way out of their shared last-period Language class, and Kukai hastily exited Biology. He didn't know exactly why he was in such a hurry. Maybe his curiosity was killing him about the girls' Hearts' Eggs, or he was eager to return to his real home. Perhaps it could have been because he wanted to get out of class for the week, or was it because he got to see his friends for a few extra hours? Whatever it was, he made no attempt to slow down as he shoved things into his schoolbag, disappeared to change out of uniform, and rushed to the Ed. Gym.

By the time he arrived, a few other people were inside. Makayla was still at her locker. The other two arrived shortly after he had, and they all took a seat on the stage to wait. Soon enough, some other students started to flood in, and Makayla was among them. Kukai dribbled the basketball in his hands as he jogged toward her when he saw her enter. Almost immediately, they began an intense one-on-one game, ignoring everyone else on the court who could have been standing in their way. Sera and Tadase remained perched on the stage. As they watched, they also got involved in their own conversation.

* * *

About an hour and a half had passed. The brunette and the redhead eventually gave in to the fact that they were both equally as stubborn as the other, so after an hour-long game that was nothing other than tied, they eventually got bored and just decided to free-throw or whatever else they felt like doing. Most of the other people had left by now.

Makayla looked to her side as Kukai's basketball pitifully bounced off of the net's rim. She saw that Sera and Tadase were _still_ talking, and hadn't grown bored of each other yet. It was then that she mentally acknowledged how abnormally compatible they were. Sure, she and Kukai had become friends quickly, too, and they were _all_ quickly recognized as friends, but with the crazy yet well-played amount of flirting Tadase was giving her and the way she responded, it seemed like those two would be getting to a new level, and fast.

Kukai retrieved the ball and walked over to Makayla's side.

The brunette also considered how Sera's personality would change when around Tadase (drastically, at that), especially with the absence of herself or the redhead. Thinking about it, the boy was the same way.

Kukai noticed the same with the blonde, at least compared to his old behavior around Amu Hinamori; with her, he seemed more collected on the outside, and he kept his emotions inside as they grew. Except for the occasional hand-holding and other casually romantic gestures, he expressed emotions in words more than actions. He only became shy when he was teased. Whereas with Sera, the blonde acquired overwhelming feelings by merely looking at her, and they appeared so quickly and so strongly, he couldn't even think of hiding them inside. His actions drove his feelings for her equally if not more than words did, probably because his mind usually turned to mush whenever he looked at her, making words almost unable to be thought up on the spot…unless, of course, he was in a substantial conversation with her; then he'd have a better time with words, using his charismatic charm powers on as high of a setting as possible.

The last few remaining people in the gym left.

The brunette looked at Kukai shortly and then back at the two on the stage. "Don't you think that's cute?" she brought up. "Every time Tadase goes near her, he goes into Prince Charming Mode."

Much to her confusion, Kukai tensed up upon registering the third-to-last-word, dropped the basketball from under his arm, and threw his hands around the girl's mouth, looking anxiously at Tadase.

_Oh crap, _he responded mentally, seeing a small, golden crown pop into existence like magic upon the head of the "Prince."

Sera suddenly sensed a furious aura consume the boy, which startled her slightly. He stood from his seat onto the waxed floor and looked towards the two on the court, his eyes piercing into Makayla's questioning pupils.

"_Prince?" _

That was all he said, but his glare remained and his voice was deep. Kukai was significantly more nervous.

Then it happened.

"**How ****_dare_**** you label me with such a ****_dishonorable, lowly_**** title! I am worthy of ****_no less_**** than ****_KING, 'Charming' _****or ****_not_****, you ****_CONTEMPTUOUS SLAVE!_**"

Makayla almost fell backwards in shock. Kukai wore a hopeless smile, which read, "Too late." He released his hands from her lips, and placed one firmly on her shoulder before whispering in her ear, "_Never_ say 'Prince' around Tadase."

Sera sat there almost as dumbfound as Makayla. After a second of regaining her thoughts, she began to laugh, trying to stifle it, but finding it useless to try to contain. She had absolutely no idea what was going on, but apparently calling Tadase a prince would make him extremely furious. She had been doing that this whole time, to herself. However, the expression her friend was wearing was almost even more hilarious than the boy's explosion.

Tadase turned around, still wearing his crown. He leaned against the stage next to the beloved strawberry-blonde again. He didn't hesitate to express the adjective _beloved_, either.

"Now that _that's_ taken care of, my _princess_, shall we proceed with our conversation?" Tadase affectionately said, picking up her hand in his own as he spoke with his other palm lying on his chest, impersonating a royal elegance. She had nothing to say in response to his statement; she was too busy trying to comprehend the circumstance. The whole of her existence began to heat up, and her hands along with her face became clammy. All she could manage to emit from her lips were various flustered _uhh_'s.

Suddenly, the crown disappeared, and Tadase's strange demeanor immediately ceased. Registering his contact with her hand, and in knowledge of what could have happened in his temporary transformation, he went to a high level of embarrassment.

"Wh-what did I do just now?" he stuttered, removing all contact from the girl. His face went from tomato red to ghastly white.

"Well, you blew up at Makayla, called yourself a king, and addressed me as 'your princess…'"

Again, Tadase's face returned to its previous red color, which deepened even more when he heard a snicker come from Kukai in the distance.

"I-I'm, uh…P-please excuse my self control—er, lack thereof! It—I mean, I'd explain my excuse, but it'd seem eh…_extremely_ farfetched, and, uh…" Tadase explained hastily before running out of words. Once he registered Sera's confused smile, he mistook it for something judgmental and continued to ramble. "Ah! You probably think I'm an immature, egotistical maniac that—"

He heard Sera laugh a little. She'd never seen him act so nervously. Usually when he's shy he would be slow to speak. Not this time, apparently.

"Not exactly…" she assured.

"…Huh?" he said questioningly, his mind finally slowing down. His eyes met hers in shock.

"But I _did_ think it was the most hilarious thing ever!" she continued, laughing some more.

Tadase let out a bunch of nervous, slurred sounds in embarrassment, but soon enough, he couldn't hold back from the contagious laughter, either.

Kukai and Makayla exchanged a look and a smirk, agreeing in their minds that their friends' blatant infatuation was, simply put, _weird._ The redhead turned around, grabbed the ball he dropped and returned to shooting, whereas Makayla gave one more questioning look back to Tadase before she flicked open the lid of her silver, heart-adorned watch. A melancholy haze settled on her mind. She looked up at the two on the stage once again, who appeared to be sharing a slightly awkward silence.

"Sera! It's five." Makayla informed. "We've gotta head out."

The strawberry-blonde turned to look at her. Tadase did, as well. Kukai caught the basketball falling out of the net from his successful lay-up and turned her way also. Everyone began to approach each other.

Makayla gave Kukai a friendly side-hug. Sera looked back at Tadase, but she just stuck with giving a tiny wave.

"See you guys," she said before walking toward the doors.

"Let's do this again, okay?" Makayla added.

"Monday! Be here!" Kukai suggested before they could walk too much further.

Makayla and Sera exchanged a glance. "Sounds good!"

* * *

"And you told _me_ I blew our cover…" Kukai blamed during his and Tadase's walk from the school.

"I couldn't help it! I'm sorry!" Tadase said, getting embarrassed again.

"Yeah, well, you could have at _least_ turned it into a chance to see if they could see the Charas!" Kukai complained. He laughed kiddingly afterwards.

"It didn't seem like an appropriate time…"

"Whatever. There's next week. I kind of wanted to be heading home today…"

Tadase hung his head in his newly-found guilt.

* * *

That coming Monday, Kukai sat with an imperishable smirk in Algebra. Very much unlike him, Makayla was working diligently on the assigned homework.

The redhead had devised a perfect setup that was bound to be hilarious. He reached down to his bag by his feet and opened it. Daichi's egg lay on the surface of the other contents. Quietly, he tapped it with his finger a couple times. His would-be self poked his head out of the shell and looked up at him with an anxious smile. Kukai nodded at him, signaling the Chara's permission to make his move. Daichi grinned and burst out of the egg. He floated underneath the desk, up and behind Makayla's chair. He looked down at the piece of notebook paper in the girl's lap, and as he examined it, he perched on her shoulder. She appeared to be figuring a problem, but stopped immediately when she felt a light mass almost tickle her. She turned her head to the side and did a rapid double-take before staring at the tiny humanlike creature in extreme discomfort.

"Stuck on number seven?" Daichi asked nonchalantly.

Makayla let out a sudden startled cry that filled the nearly silent room. A few people looked up at her, including the instructor, but they returned to their business as if there was nothing important to worry about. Kukai laughed.

"Talk about a late reaction," Daichi muttered.

Makayla looked around the room at her classmates. Didn't they see the little…**_thing_**on her shoulder? She looked back at the mysterious creature, still completely lost as to what was even going on. And why was Kukai laughing at her?

"Looks like she can see me."

"What!? What is this about, Kukai?" Makayla whispered in annoyance, looking from Daichi to the redhead. Her voice was the only one that could be registered by anyone else.

"You passed the test!" the redhead whispered back as his laughing subsided. He averted his gaze to his mint-haired Shugo Chara, and gestured for him to come back.

Makayla watched as the little guy hovered off of her shoulder and back to Kukai's side, then down back into his bag. As he descended, the brunette dipped her head below the desks and saw him disappear behind the shell of a bright blue egg—the one she had seen on occasion among the boy's things.

The bell rang shortly after that. Makayla wouldn't let Kukai ignore her questions. He eventually said that he'd explain after school. That satisfied the brunette enough to get her off of his back for a while. She didn't look _too_ satisfied, though.

* * *

Sera was sitting in science, drawing, waiting in anticipation for the bell.

Tadase watched as her pencil glided over the paper. _I'm sure her would-be self will be artistic…_ he mused. _Speaking of would-be selves, this might be a nice opportunity…_

He reached for his bag and set it on his lap before opening it and lifting his Heart's Egg from the bottom corner. His Monarch Chara broke out of his prison and opened his large mouth to boisterously declare something, but seeing his master's index finger held over his mouth, Kiseki found respect for the request and kept quiet. Tadase pointed next to him, where the strawberry-blonde was preoccupied. After nodding at his master with determination, Kiseki flew confidently in the girl's direction, landing on the desk near the far corner of her notebook.

Her pencil stopped moving when she saw him there. She didn't know what or who it was standing there, but even so, she didn't say anything. She just curiously stared at it for a while, and then looked around the room. The rest of the students including Tadase were working on something. The class was silent, and nobody seemed to notice the little living figurine watching her. When she looked at him again, she thought he looked kind of cute, and then she realized how strong of a resemblance he had to Tadase.

Kiseki noticed she was examining him. After a few seconds, he ascended from his place on the table and hovered closer to the girl's questioning face.

"From what I can assume, Miss," Kiseki started, "you seem to have the extraordinary ability to see me." As he spoke, he looked from one large, green eye to the other. The pair of them stared at him in confusion, but once he spoke, they opened widely and began searching the room again. The little king's voice was a shock to her ears as it spontaneously broke the silence. Although it should have been plenty loud enough to be perceived from a distance, nobody reacted to the bold sound in the slightest, as if they didn't even hear it. Sera looked back at the floating figure.

"You can see me, can you not?" demanded he.

Sera soundlessly nodded.

"That obviously means you can hear me, as well, correct?"

She nodded again.

The king smiled triumphantly. He turned to the boy on the strawberry-blonde's side and bellowed, "Tadase! We've found our new Queen's Chair!" The declaration was followed by a triumphant laugh. Again, nobody reacted except Tadase, who smiled and silently reached into his bag once again. Sera saw him pull out a periwinkle-colored egg with a golden crown design printed in the middle, leaving her dumbfound even more than she had been already.

Tadase reached over and lightly tugged on the red cape of the small king figure, which seemed to set him off. Sera smiled a little in half-minded amusement as she watched his face begin to redden in fury as he complained about being pulled away by his master, spewing out insults, orders, and other things of the sort to match his cute kingly ego. Tadase smiled as he gently pulled the little thing nearer and nearer to the egg, and even when he let go, the ineffective shouting didn't cease. The blonde gave him a hard look. His Chara reluctantly and resentfully disappeared into the ellipse.

Tadase slipped the egg back into his bag, and he and the strawberry-blonde beside him exchanged a look. Tadase smiled his usual smile. Sera looked at him as if he had grown another nostril. After a solid five seconds of that unbroken and silent stare, the bell finally rang.

"What the heck was that!?" Sera inquired worriedly and immediately as other people exploded out of the silence. She and the boy stood.

"It was a test," Tadase replied calmly, pushing in his chair and standing, but not progressing onward when she didn't follow right away. When he saw that her expression had not subsided, he continued, "You'll see after school."

She considered the fact that she probably wasn't going to get any more information than that. She decided to let the matter go for right then, so she grabbed her things and walked with him out the classroom's door with the rest of the students.

* * *

Lunch was kind of awkward. Nobody said too much. Makayla and Sera shared puzzled expressions of unsettlement and impatience, and they kind of got the feeling that they originated from the same thing. The boys seemed to notice this, and the girls saw them exchange a strangely _excited_ smile and a nod.

* * *

"Since the first day the guys got here, I kept seeing this egg in Kukai's bag. I figured it was some kind of lucky charm or something, but it ended up having this little…thing hiding in it!"

Makayla, as they sat in Bible class, noticed Sera's expression, which at first glance made it seem like she thought her brunette friend was crazy. It was just that she was shocked to hear that her friend had a similar experience.

"Was it small, and did it look humanlike?" the strawberry-blonde asked.

"Yes! Gosh, you can see them, too? Nobody else seemed to be able to except Kukai."

"Same with me! I was just drawing, and this little flying creature comes up to me and asks if I can see and hear it. Then he talked to Tadase and announced something about a queen's chair or something, and then Tadase pulled out an egg and tugged the little guy into it. It was kind of cute, but…strange, especially the way the thing blew up in anger."

Makayla laughed a little. "You should've seen me! Kukai's little mini human thing landed on my shoulder, and it freaked me out! Nobody else could see it except for Kukai, who just kept laughing at me."

Sera looked amused. "Tadase said he'd tell me what it was about once school's out."

"Yeah, same here."

The class began, but it was hard to focus when curiosity plagued the minds of the girls. They went on in this manner the rest of the day until finally they were released.

* * *

Makayla and Sera hastily jogged into the Ed. Gym, where Kukai and Tadase awaited their entrance. As they noticed that the girls were walking in, Kukai chest-passed the basketball in his hands to Makayla, who stood a few yards away. "Are we gonna go one game?" he asked.

The brunette impatiently threw the ball back at him. "No more stalling. Explain yourselves," she ordered. Beside her stood Sera with crossed arms.

The redhead and Tadase exchanged a glance. Looking back at the other two, Kukai muttered sarcastically, "_Finicky, aren't we?"_

"A nice elaboration on the circumstance would be nice," Sera agreed.

Kukai's face twisted into an anxious expression. "Um," he started, "Follow us, then."

Eagerly, the girls trailed alongside Kukai and Tadase out the gym's back door, although they were somewhat reluctant. Once they were outside, the redhead curiously looked around, and then he began to move again. Tadase didn't know what he was doing, but along with Sera and Makayla, he followed. After about a minute of jogging, the four of them reached the far edge of the school's back field that was lined by woods. Kukai made sure they were hidden in the shade of some trees before he took out his egg. The blonde followed suit.

The eggs opened. The two small humanlike figures that were seen earlier that day hovered into sight. The mint-haired one floated effortlessly with his hands behind his head. The other with the attire of a monarch hovered by the head of the blonde with his hands on his hips.

"This is Kiseki," Tadase introduced, gesturing to the latter.

"And this is Daichi," Kukai added. Daichi waved at them. Kiseki gave a "pleased to meet you" nod.

The girls exchanged a look.

"These guys are called our Guardian Characters, or, back home, we call them Shugo Charas," Kukai explained.

"Where's 'back home'?" Sera asked.

"Um, that's actually kind of a complex question," answered the blonde. "To you guys, the closest thing to it that you could envision would be…Japan."

The girls exchanged another look.

"You're from Japan?" inquired Makayla.

"Well, not exactly…"

There was silence.

"…Um, anyway, what do these Shugo…Charas do?" Sera wondered.

"They represent our would-be selves," said Tadase again.

The girls only looked blankly at them.

"Okay, here," Kukai started. "Everyone has an egg inside their heart…"

Before he could continue, he was distracted by the raised eyebrows of the two. That was one of the most ridiculous things they had ever heard.

"Just hear me out, alright? When any one person finds something they want to improve about themselves—like a skill, right?—or they decide they want to change something about them—like their personality—the egg is born, and then it hatches a Shugo Chara, which specializes in a certain skill or has a special theme. Okay? Are you following me?"

Makayla and Sera nodded slowly.

"The only people who can see the eggs or the Charas are people who have ones of their own, but there are some exceptions. Small children who haven't developed eggs yet can see them, too, and so can people who are just about to bear their eggs, like you," Tadase explained further.

"…Huh?"

"We can tell yours are almost ready!" Daichi told them.

"Perhaps this universe doesn't tolerate the birth of Heart's Eggs…" Kiseki considered half to himself.

"So…what does that mean?" Sera wondered out loud, eventually, speaking for Makayla as well.

Tadase and Kukai looked at one another, then back at the other two. "It means we've found our Queen and Ace—mission complete!"

To them, this seemed all too similar to some cheesy RPG video game storyline. As the girls were pondering this, Kukai reached into his back uniform pocket and grabbed the tiny device that Tsukasa had lent to them. After he activated a command, Makayla and Sera began paying attention to what was going on before their eyes. They watched intently as the machine began glowing, short-circuiting, and vibrating violently. Suddenly, an illuminating elliptical passage opened like a rip in the atmosphere, through which nothing could be seen except an unrealistic light. It wasn't just the rent atoms in the air that created this hole, however; it was the extraction of space and time being pulled away from one another. It appeared as if the plain existence of their world was just a flat area. The strange portal gave them an extraordinary new perspective…too extraordinary for the girls to speak. They tried to walk around it, but like some tremendous optical illusion, its width and scale stayed exactly the same, like it was turning and re-sizing at exactly the same rate. Except it wasn't.

"M'kay, guys! Hold hands!" Kukai told the other three in the room.

"What, you're making us go through that thing!?" Makayla asserted.

"Yup." Kukai's lips popped with the ending consonant.

Tadase gazed weirdly at Kukai, wondering what he was talking about. They hadn't made any kind of contact before, and they arrived in one piece. Seeing the look, Kukai smirked, and Tadase immediately knew it was just an excuse. The blonde decided to play along.

Makayla and Sera exchanged a glance, seeing the guys take a hold of each other's wrists. The girls, too, decided to join hands. Tadase offered his hand to the strawberry-blonde, which she took on command, and Kukai stole the brunette's hand without her permission, but she didn't care too much. The Charas had returned to their eggs.

Soon, they were all enveloped into the light.

* * *

All four of them opened their eyes. They stood among a maze of trees—different trees than they were nearby previously. Their feet audibly crushed the grass below. Kukai and Tadase shared a relieved smile. Makayla and Sera looked around the unfamiliar area and glanced at the boys before noticing that their hands had disconnected, and in theirs, they felt a strange mass.

When they looked down, they each saw a set of two eggs resting in their palms, just as predicted.

* * *

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	3. The Serpent and the Robot

"…Eggs?"

The boys followed the girls' gaze down at their hands. Smiles crept onto their faces. Upon hearing Makayla and Sera's questioning registry of the objects they held, Daichi and Kiseki broke from their elliptical homes and joined in the group's examination.

The eggs in Makayla's possession had much in contrast. One was entirely grayscale. Its design separated the gray egg horizontally into thirds by thick black stripes around the circumference. The top and bottom thirds were covered with cross-hatched lines that formed a fishnet design. The center third had a white _X_ symbol, which wielded glyph-like black dragon wings on either side. At first glance, the boys almost mistook it for an X-Egg, which it slightly resembled, but they ejected that thought out of their head when they actually looked at it. The gothic style took a change for a more lighthearted look when it came to the other egg. Again, it looked as if it was split into thirds, in which the top and bottom thirds were a peppy yellow, and the center one white. Over the white third, a design of golden ribbons crisscrossed around the perimeter in the same manner as a tied shoe. The strands overlapped each other realistically on the two-dimensional surface. A yellow star sealed the ribbons in the egg's center. Also, a white ribbon appeared to be strung around the top and bottom yellow thirds and looked hung in place by matching white buttons.

Sera's eggs seemed to be opposites, one having a sleek, futuristic theme and the other a more dainty, contemporary one. The latter looked like a near match to Makayla's, as it was adorned with glossy black ribbons lacing across the center with a matching bow in place of the star to seal it. The egg's base color was a slightly dark fuchsia and netted lace covered the top and bottom thirds of the shape. The thirds were separated using two black chain designs. As for the futuristic-style egg, a thin silver zipper design—complete with the slider—surrounded its circumference, breaking the trend of even thirds. The rest of the egg's surface imitated the look of a computer's black motherboard. Colors of laser-bright yellow and electric cyan scanned through the countless streams of copper wires, while a few red and blue lights flickered in alternation.

"They're so warm," Sera noticed.

"They're almost ready to hatch, then," Tadase informed.

As Kukai examined Makayla's eggs, something caught his attention. A ray of light glistened into his eye, and when he looked, he saw a small, white, and flawless jewel hanging from a silver chain around the brunette's neck. Suddenly, he saw Tadase reach into his bag and pull out the long-forgotten Humpty Lock, which was glowing suspiciously as the necklace seemed to. Sera also took note of the new accessory. Makayla, too, had felt the unusual weight on her neck.

"What do you think it means?" the blonde boy muttered inquiringly.

"Maybe it holds the same powers as the Humpty Lock?" Kukai hypothesized.

"We can ask Tsukasa later," said Tadase again.

Silence reigned for a minute as the boys watched intently upon the Lock, and the girls exchanged a glance. Suddenly, they both stood up straighter in realization. It wasn't a surprise they were thinking the same thing.

"H-hey, where are we, anyway!?" Makayla insisted, making the redhead and blonde look her way.

"We're in Japan," Kukai bluntly replied, speaking as if the answer was obvious.

"_Our_ Japan," Tadase added.

As the girls looked at them blankly, Kukai muttered to himself, "It sure is nice speaking normally again…"

Suddenly, Sera and Makayla's eyes widened as they experienced the revelation explaining the incomplete feeling like something about their speech was strange. "Ē?" they questioned, intending to mutter "Huh?" until it came out foreign. "_**Ē!?**_" they vociferated again in realization of not only their language, but what being in 'their Japan' meant.

"What? What do you mean? As exciting as that sounds, that's the most unrealistic thing I've ever heard! How'd we get here? How long are we staying? Our parents have no clue where we are!" Sera spontaneously demanded, spewing out words as they came to mind. Eventually, she stopped and noticed again her exotically fluent tongue.

Kukai scoffed. "Don't worry about it! It's a lot more complicated than what you think. It's not like the Japan across the Pacific. It's a whole other universe," he explained nonchalantly like it wasn't unusual.

Tadase gave him a look. He spoke as if he knew what he was talking about, which the blonde was sure his didn't.

"…That makes it worse!" Makayla retorted.

The redhead snickered before lifting his wrist and checking the time. "It's 5:07," he informed, "on the thirteenth of July—three minutes after we left this spot just short of two weeks ago."

The brunette and the strawberry-blonde exchanged a glance. "…So…we _time travelled, __**too**__!?_" they shouted.

"Ugh, no! My point is that time runs differently between our worlds! You'll only have been gone a few minutes when you go back. Nothing to worry about!"

There was nothing else that could have been said about the matter. Although they didn't quite want to accept such an extreme thought, they decided not to ask any more questions at that moment.

"Well, then, should we go see the Chairman now?" Tadase suggested.

Kukai nodded. The girls did nothing besides hesitantly follow as the boys led the way in hope that they knew where they were going.

~`~.~`~

Tsukasa sat at the Planetarium in the front row, silently philosophizing as he examined the symbolic cards in his hands—the Jack of Clubs, Ace of Spades, King of Diamonds, and the Queen of Hearts. Envisioning what could happen in the near future, he averted his eyes across each symbol.

_Playing cards: some of Lady Luck's favorite tools. Hopefully I'll draw a royal straight before the Threat gets its turn to play. _

He snapped out of his trance when the light from outside flooded in from the old doors. He stood hastily in excitement and slipped the cards into his back pocket. Beginning to walk forward, he could see the shadows of four people in wait outside. Relief endured through his vigor, seeing that his pupils were home and safe.

He reached the doorframe where he saw the native boys standing. He began to ask if they had any luck in their expedition, but there was no need to when the King and Jack stepped aside to reveal two European-faced girls, talking nervously amongst each other, holding their eggs. Tsukasa stepped past his students and approached them.

"This is Amakawa Tsukasa, who is the Chairman of the school you'll be attending," introduced Tadase.

Tsukasa friendly smiled at them. Makayla and Sera noticed his uncanny resemblance to the blonde.

"These are Makayla and Sera," Kukai told him when they didn't say anything.

"The new Queen and Ace, I assume?" the Chairman assured. When the boys nodded, he turned to the brunette and strawberry-blonde and greeted, "Pleased to meet you."

There was a small silence. "Umm, hi. We…kind of have no idea what's going on here…" Makayla brought up.

"Could someone….uh…explain it to us…?" Sera finished.

"You didn't tell them about the Chairs yet?" Tsukasa asked with lack of expectancy, turning to the boys again.

"Well, we told them about the eggs, but things went too fast to explain that part yet…" Tadase explained.

"Ah, yes. The eggs. Four of them between the two of you? That's uncommon. Not as much so as Miss Hinamori, but it'll definitely prove useful," he said, turning to the girls again and examining the ellipses they held.

"How can he see them?" Sera whispered in question to Makayla.

He heard her and answered, "I've had a Heart's Egg in my past. The ability tends to stay if your would-be self continues to grow, even if the Characters disappear. Now Tadase, Souma-kun, Why don't you explain the rest of the unsaid?"

Makayla and Sera still stood there, lost. It was too much information in one hour. Everything was hitting them one after another without ceasing. Tadase and Kukai had the same feeling.

The four walked through the woods, nearing civilization. In that time, the guys told them about the Guardian Council—how the members could utilize the powers of their would-be selves to protect the public from threats to the Heart's Egg. They explained the lack of Shugo Charas in kids, how there wasn't enough experience or intelligence in the Elementary, and how they all were the only hope. They told the girls how even they weren't enough by themselves, and that without anyone fit to take the place of the Ace and Queen, they travelled across the boundaries of spacetime in search using an enemy's device. They also made sure to tell them that they have no choice in the matter of whether or not they want to stay; times were in major need of _anyone _who could do the job, especially with this horrifying Threat.

"It's okay if you need time for the thoughts to settle in. Nothing can really unfold anyway until at least one of your four eggs hatches," Tadase assured, looking calmly but affectionately into Sera's green irises, glancing over at Makayla occasionally.

"Yeah, and school doesn't even start again until about a month and a half from now. That should be enough time, right?" Kukai forcefully landed his hand on the brunette's shoulder as he spoke, making eye contact with both of the girls.

Makayla and Sera both agreed half-heartedly. They both supposed that couldn't be all that bad, especially with Kukai and Tadase there.

The next problem that came about was finding a place for the foreign girls to stay. Tadase offered his nearly vacant residence, which became as such when his grandmother passed, leaving just him and his mother. Kukai also offered his place, from which two of his four brothers had moved out since his seventh-grade year, opening extra rooms. Yet, neither case really seemed tolerable or comfortable.

Soon, Kukai got an idea. Out of his pocket he pulled his cell phone and brought it to his ear after a touch of a button.

"Hey, Shusui. Got an extra room available? …A couple of my friends need a place to stay. … … … Dude, Unkai and Rento still live there. … … Huh? They're girls! Talk about awkward! … …"

The three others shared a chuckle.

"… Come on! They have nowhere else to go, bro! … …Pretty please, Shusui? It's only for a little while! Can't you find sympathy in your soul to give them _shelter_!? For them? For _me!?_" the redhead begged into the phone, putting on a faux whine in an attempt of the pity treatment. Soon, his eyelids rose and his smile widened into existence. "…Whoa, you're serious!? Dude, you rock!" he exclaimed before hanging up shortly afterwards. "You guys get to stay in my big bro's apartment complex…for free! Man, he's such a softie," he snickered.

The girls and Tadase stood there watching him in disbelief. Then they all exchanged a glance. "…Well, that was easy," Makayla stated. Sera broke out into giggles at the extreme irony of the situation. Tadase followed suit, then the brunette, and soon, Kukai too.

Sometime later, the four made it to the building in which Makayla and Sera would dwell. Shusui stood waiting in the lobby, which was tastefully decorated and gave an excellent impression. Kukai recognized his brother and led the others over. After he was approached, Shusui gave a greeting to them all, sounding mature and professional, which he was, of course.

"You two girls are the ones Kukai mentioned, needing the place to stay, I assume?" the redhead's brother asked. It was hard to believe that they were related.

"Yes we are, sir. Thank you so very much for your hospitality," Makayla said, sounding as sweet as she could, following Kukai's orders from minutes earlier in an attempt to flatter his brother.

"You must be _such_ a kind-hearted man, letting mere children like us stay in such a well-refined building, which needless to say is _nothing_ less than what we could expect from someone with such admirable characteristics as you, sir," Sera added.

Kukai was right. Flattered, the man's business face melted away into a bashful expression. "Oh, I'm not all that, girls…It's such a pleasure to host such polite and good-natured people like yourselves." He turned to Kukai and whispered, "So, who's the favorite, Kukai?"

Sera, hearing the inquiring comment, slyly stepped behind Makayla, enough so to be able to push her forward and into the Jack. He and the brunette looked at each other awkwardly, blushing slightly, before looking back and seeing Sera standing close by Tadase's side and talking with him nonchalantly as if she was innocent. As she was saying something, she looked back at Makayla and gave her a teasing wink. The brunette gave her a "you'll pay for that later" glare before they both turned back to Shusui, who gave Kukai a look that implied he understood the answer to his own question. He then offered to lead them all up to the girls' new apartment.

They reached the third floor and walked to the first room on that end of the hallway. After removing a key from his pocket, Kukai's older brother unlocked the door to the unoccupied living space and opened it, revealing the presentable, pre-furnished home. All of its contents matched just as nicely as the lobby, and it appeared to have never been previously lived in; at least it seemed so due to its smell of fresh renovation and its cleanliness, as well as its lack of dust.

Details about their stay were given shortly after a walkthrough of the apartment. Then Shusui handed a key to each of the girls and took his leave. The boys stayed for a little while, and they told Makayla and Sera that they would go uniform shopping the following day.

The new Queen and Ace were starting to get excited about this whole crazy scenario in the midst of its overwhelming progression and their lingering confusion. Slowly they came to accept it all and look forward to what was to come. After the leave of Kukai and Tadase, they sat in the furnished living space, examined their eggs, and had a long conversation about what the heck was going on.

~.~`~.~

"Found them!" exclaimed Kukai the next morning. The four of them were searching the small uniform shop for Seiyo Academy's middle school uniforms, particularly the skirts.

"Okay. Mini, short, or _especially_ skimpy?" the redhead joked, holding up three variations of the green pieces of plaid fabric.

"Pervert," the slightly offended brunette muttered.

"You know I'm kidding…"

Sera rolled her eyes, but then she got an idea. "Hey, throw me two different lengths." Kukai did so. She held them up to her jean-covered pelvis to find that they both seemed like they'd fit…horizontally, that is. "Geez. You're right," she commented. "Looks like I'm wearing tights every day."

Makayla waited for Kukai to grab a duplicate of the longest skirt option for her while Tadase got button-up shirts, blazers, and matching green ties for them. They headed off into the dressing stalls nearby and got busy.

The brunette was the first to finish dressing. She stepped out of the stall with the thigh-cut pleated skirt and white knee-high socks with her tennis shoes, her blazer buttoned halfway over the uniform blouse with her darker green tie hanging out. Her necklaces hung down over her collarbones.

"Need some help with that?" Kukai inquired with a smirk, pointing to the tie, which was wrapped loosely around her neck and tied with an imperfect knot, from which both the thick and skinny ends of it were exposed.

"Huh? No I don't," she stubbornly declined.

Sera stepped out of her dressing room at about that time. Her eyes were glued in admiration to herself. Tadase, who was standing nearby, could only blissfully stare.

"I love this! I've always wanted to have a blazer with our school uniform!" she cooed. "How do I look?"

"…Gorgeous."

"…Wow, really? That's sweet!"

Meanwhile, something caught Daichi's eye. To his shock, he saw a pair of glowing white irises peek through the newly-broken crevice in Makayla's grayscale egg, which sat beside its companion on top of the brunette's stack of folded clothes. The mint-haired Chara floated stilly, nearly paralyzed in shock, but once he regained movement he sped off to find Kiseki, who was accompanying his master and watching as the shenanigans between him and the strawberry-blonde unfolded.

"K-Kiseki!" the husky voice of the sporty Chara called hastily. The kingly Chara looked at him strangely as he spat out random gibberish, pointing frantically and whatnot as he tried to explain.

"Speak clearly, peasant!" Kiseki ordered before he was grabbed by the neck of his cape and was dragged to the scene.

They soon returned to the spot, but looking at the egg, it was closed. Daichi moaned in annoyance and clawed at his face in aggravation that his evidence was gone.

"…I see nothing out of the ordinary, you fool. Calm down."

"Ugh! The egg…!"

"What about them?"

"The gray one hatched! I swear!"

Kiseki glanced at it once more. "…You sure?"

They both stopped when they thought they heard something. "Heh heh. From a complied pushovah' to a gurl who can pick a _fawigh_t! Chara Change!"

"I got this myself!" Makayla hissed at the redhead again, untying the stupid strip of material and messing with it again. _You fold the big end over the thin one, right? Or under, maybe…_ she mulled.

Kukai's mind froze when she snapped at him, but then he smiled. As she had said that line, a "_Prring!"_ sound became audible for a short moment, and suddenly white _X'_s appeared in her hair and small black-and-white wings came into existence on her back in a little explosion of sparkling flames. He noticed her pupils narrow unnaturally into thin strands of darkness.

The brunette soon ripped the useless tie off of her neck in annoyance, and then turned to Kukai again. "If you're going to be such a _critic_ about it, then tell me how the rest of it looks!"

"Well, the _skirt_ looks good," he told her with a teasing smile, which earned him an annoyed shove that he instantly noticed was a lot more forceful than usual. That unexpected power (which sent him crashing into a rack of clothes) as well as the piercing glare she was shooting at him with her unrealistically narrow pupils, scared him a bit. In an attempt to cover his last words, he assured, "No, but really, you look fine!"

"Just 'fine?'" the brunette repeated with her hands on her hips, looking as threatening as ever the way she stood over him with her wings flared out.

"What am I supposed to say!?" The redhead asked, but her stubborn glare still intimidated him. He couldn't even manage to stand up yet after having collided with the structure behind him. "Uh, I mean…you look great! Er, awesome! It's, uh…._very_ flattering. And you should wear it every day…!"

Her expression turned into a more playful look. She backed off slightly. The pupils in her eyes widened slightly, but they were still abnormally longer than they were round. "That's more like it," she growled. "Just try to sound more _convincing_ next time."

Just then, her Character Change subsided. Completely oblivious to the fact that it had even happened, Makayla looked over to the now approaching Sera. Kukai could finally put his weight back on his feet.

"Oh my gosh, you look so cute!" the brunette awed. Sera wore the two skirts she had wanted, one layering the other so it complimented her hips. The black leather belt she wore with her previous outfit sat tightly high around her waist over the black blazer, which was buttoned below the belt and open on the top half, revealing the white button-up shirt. Her tie was neatly tucked under the blazer and was visible around her neck as opposed to around the collar. Instead, her black-silver rose necklace (which was starting to reveal the bronze from underneath the dark outer coloring) was worn coming out from the collar of her white shirt and lay on top of her tie. Her heart necklace was pulled through the tie's knot to keep itself in place, and it rested nicely above the rose charm. Its magenta color complimented the green.

"You do, too!" Sera returned, sounding extravagantly more believable than Kukai.

After a few more compliments were thrown around, the girls returned to their dressing rooms. Makayla, muttering something about how she decided slacks were better suited for her, shut the wooden door behind her and made her way to her folded clothes, but she was confused to see only one egg sitting where she had left them both. Panic followed that confusion almost instantly.

"Hay, you sure towld _him,_ gurl!"

Makayla went bug-eyed. She heard a voice, alright. It had some kind of a slightly distorted accent—kind of like the Japanese equivalent of Boston dialect, or maybe Brooklyn. Perhaps a little Australian? Anyway, she didn't know if there was someone else in the stall with her, but the thought of it and the fact that one of her eggs was missing worked together to scare her slightly. Hesitantly, she turned around to find no one there. Confusion struck once again. She turned back to her clothes, where she found a punk-styled chibi floating in front of her face. She screamed.

The small fairy-like figurine had a pale complexion and shining white eyes, as well as collarbone-length thick, black, glossy hair that was gathered at the jaw on either side into pigtails, held by white _X_'s. Along her hairline, loose black locks spiked up into reptile-like spines. On her small body, she wore a chocker and a black mid-drift tube-top. She wore an ebony mini-skirt with a white belt. Tight, dark boots covered her feet, shins, and calves, and she wore white fingerless gloves on her large hands, revealing her talon-like fingernails. Fishnet covered her visible thighs. Last, she possessed dragon-like wings and a matching tail. She also had fangs.

"Ey, what's wid'da look?" she voiced again as Makayla examined her. Her voice was hard to get used to.

"…Who are you!?" the brunette nearly shouted.

The punk chibi broke out into a hearty laugh. "Who _am_ I? Seid you lost yoa' Haaet's Egg, yeah? It's me, yoa' would-be self, sis! Mah' name's Inferno, but mah homies call me Fang. You dig? Heh heh heh."

"… …_Eeeeeeeehhhhh!?"_

Sera, Tadase and Kukai all heard the unfamiliar voice, as well as Makayla's cries. Kiseki and Daichi watched from above the dressing stall, where the sporty Chara proved to the lavender-haired king that he was right.

"…Her accent is troubling," Kiseki muttered.

Sera quickly got changed and exited the dressing space. She stood with Kukai in wait for Makayla as Tadase paid for the strawberry-blonde's uniform.

"Ugh, I don't need…your help—getting…―dressed! Shu-Shugo…Chara!" Makayla assured sternly as Fang tried to pull her shirt up over her head.

"Hah! Theah you go again, Miss Finicky. Ahh, I _lauve _thet 'baout 'cha! 'Ts how I was boarn…" the new Chara declared as she flew around the place, almost impossible to keep up with. "Aend I towld ya, da name's Fang. Git it in ya' head, sis."

"Fang…" the brunette growled, glaring at her Guardian Character between the buttons in her shirt. She proceeded to independently get changed and headed out of the stall, her other egg in her possession.

Kukai smiled when he saw the new Chara floating behind her. "Well, look what we have here!" he said, intrigued.

"Yeh, beauty, in't she?" Fang answered, plopping in a sitting position on the head of her owner. Makayla blushed slightly. Surprisingly, Kukai did, too.

"…I was actually talking about you," the redhead said.

"Oh, _**re**__-_ally? _Moi? _Ah, _boy_, you's _sach_ a playa', babe!" the new Chara foxily replied, now lying on her side atop the brunette's head, twirling her finger cutely around a strand of hair.

"Oh, wow," Kukai sighed.

Sera turned from examining some of the outfits to the scene that was unfolding, and hearing the boisterous and accented voice as well as Kukai's reply, she made her way back over.

"Oh my gosh! You're so cute! Congrats, Makayla!" the strawberry-blonde told her and her new Shugo Chara. "I hope my eggs hatch soon."

"…No you don't!" Makayla responded under her breath as Fang's voice blew up once more.

"Oh, girl, you's so sweet!" the Guardian Character exclaimed once more, floating down to meet Sera's eyes. She slowly circled the girl in examination. "You's a cutie ya_self_! What's yoa' name, hun?"

"I'm Sera."

"_Aa~h_! Naice, naice. I'm Inferno, Fang for short. Plez'yah meetin' ya, babe."

"Er, you too…"

Tadase had begun to approach the group around this time. He smiled in excitement and looked over at Makayla and Kukai. He noticed the lone egg the brunette held and was going to ask about it once he got over to them, but a blur of black flashed into his vision, and he stopped. "Oh, hello," he greeted the Chara floating before him.

"Aw, well ar-en't _you _maennerly! What a _naice_ boy!" Fang went off. "Oh, how _rude_ of me! De name's 'nferno, but call me Fang, kid. Remembah' thet, yeh?"

"I'm Tadase. You seem like a lively Character, Miss Fang."

"D'aw, quit flattaerin' me, boy. It's in my blood. Well, act-ually it's in Makayla's, but you git my drift."

Kiseki made his way back down to Tadase's side by this time. He looked like he was going to tell something to the blonde, but Fang made it impossible.

"Aend who's this fella'?"

Kiseki looked at her square in the eyes. "'Fellow?' That is so much of an understatement that it is inexcusably offensive! I am a _King_, simpleton. Kiseki is the name."

"…Whoo. Dis is yoa' would-be self, kiddo? _Dis_ selfish brat? _I_ like ya the way you awre naow, if I do say so ma'self," the punk Chara said to Tadase, pointing with her thumb at the fuming lavender-haired king.

"I've never heard such disrespect in all my life!"

"Who do you _think_ ya _awre_? You wanna staw't a brawl, kid?"

"Brawls are for the uncivilized, like _yourself_ apparently," Kiseki snitched.

"Yeh, yeh."

"Looks like they've made enemies," Sera muttered. She had come over next to Makayla.

"…Yup," the brunette agreed. She sighed.

~.~`~.~

Later, they all went out for lunch. Fang had introduced herself formally to Daichi and Kukai.

"…I dunno. What do you recommend?" Sera asked Tadase as they were being served at a ramen bar (the idea was proposed by Kukai, of course). She ended up just getting what he did, subtracting a few of her disapproved toppings. The redhead got the most extravagant thing on the menu, while Makayla just stuck with something light.

"Ooh, I see it naow," Fang stated in a teasing voice. She floated in front of Tadase and Sera, holding her large, clawlike fingers into a rectangular frame through which she could see the two of them. "You two look _**soh**__cyute_ togethah', I _ken't _believe it!" her voice burst out dramatically.

"…Huh?" the two said in unison, heating up even more than they already were from the steam of the broth.

Kukai and Makayla leaned to their sides and pushed the two into each other, nearly making them fall out of their barstools. Their faces reddened more.

"Finally, someone said it!" Kukai laughed.

"I was thinking the same thing," Makayla added.

"What are you talking about?" Tadase asked with a wavering voice.

"What awre _you_ tawlking 'bout? You two weh' shering food just naow! Tawlk 'bout evidence of a re_lae_shinship."

"I-I was just taking the stuff he didn't want! He forgot to say 'no meat!'" Sera retorted. "We're not together!"

"Yeh, ohkay. Whuteveh'. You two's still the cyutest thing, though."

The redhead and brunette let off their pressure and the accused two regained their balance. They ate the rest of their meal in embarrassment, and afterwards, the girls were walked back to their apartment. Tadase told them that Tsukasa got them enrolled and that they would have to take their placement exams the next week. The girls' nerves went berserk when they heard that.

~.~`~.~

Nights and days passed (it was sometimes difficult to sleep in the case of Makayla and Sera when Fang didn't want to calm down), and every day they all would go out and the boys would familiarize the girls with the city of Tokyo. Eventually, Monday the 18th came, which was the assigned day for the girls' placement tests. The day before, they had been given a tour of Seiyo Academy, which gave the impression to the brunette and strawberry-blonde that it was way better than their old school.

The four of them walked to the Chairman's office. Sera was level-headed about it, but she was slightly anxious. Makayla's only problem was her fatigue; Fang kept her up that last evening, which wasn't doing good things for her mind's processes.

After conversing details with Tsukasa, the girls were sent to separate empty classrooms for their testing. The boys waited in the Chairman's office, taking care of Fang and their Charas, as well as Makayla's other egg. Sera wanted to use her eggs as good luck charms or something, so she brought them with her.

Makayla wasn't particularly nervous, but it was only because she was tired. There in the vacant room she sat, nearly falling asleep out of boredom. She would go five minutes answering questions before she would space out for a moment, re-reading the current question she was on subconsciously, but not registering the words as a whole and just reading letters that seemed to make no sense. Eventually she would use all of her awaken brain power to understand the problem, then answer (or guess on an answer or two), then move on for another five minutes before the cycle began again. Fang probably would have kept her awake if she was there, but on the flipside, she wouldn't have been able to concentrate with the obnoxiously accented voice booming in her ears every half-second.

_What's the formula for the volume of a sphere!? I don't know any Japanese history! It goes subject-object-verb in Japanese, right? I have no idea what the heck that Kanji means! Dear Lord, have mercy!_

In Sera's eyes at the moment, this seemed to be the most farfetched test she had ever taken. Needless to say, her self-control exploded into chaos.

She swore that her confusion turned into paranoia, because every time she didn't know a question and freaked out about it, she felt something vibrate in her lap, but when she looked nothing had moved.

There was a point in the test where every single question that came about she had to skip due to an unknown answer. That was the time where the vibrating in her lap was consistent. Finally, when she looked down, she saw that the computer-themed egg sitting there was the source of the rapid shaking movement, like a cell phone that just got a call. The wires covering the majority of the surface were glowing, and the lights had stopped blinking but were vibrantly illuminated. Seconds later, the egg burst, and out came Sera's first Shugo Chara.

The strawberry-blonde examined her when she floated up in her vision. The Guardian Character had light brown hair that was pulled into a ponytail with dead straight, choppy bangs. She wore two bulky earphones over the sides of her face, which did not seem to be connected over the head. A small microphone connected to the right earphone hung in front of her chin. She wore a tight black sleeveless mini-dress with an electric blue collar and a white belt on her hips. A matching blue tie draped down her torso. The Chara wore black boots that reached her mid-calves. The platform bases on the bottom of those boots were blue and glowed suspiciously, while emitting halo-like beams from the bottoms.

The Shugo Chara hovered in front of Sera's face, wearing a serious, calm expression, eyes closed. The strawberry-blonde's mind was quieted just looking at her, and she stayed still in her presence in wait of any movement or action to come. Silence reigned.

"…From a girl who is limited no further than immediate compensation…" the Chara began eventually, her dictionary-like voice soft, clear, and unrushed, "…to the one who pursues beyond into the cryptic abyss of intellect…"

Slowly, she reached one hand to her right earphone and pressed onto it with two fingers. "Chara Change," she triggered, finally opening her eyes, which were revealed to be a brilliant, deep cosmic blue, but around the pupil the color faded into a stunning glowing electric cyan—by far the brightest color of anything she wore. However, her lips didn't move. Instead, her voice echoed in Sera's thoughts using a surge of telepathy.

_Prring!_

In a flash of pixilated data, a set of headphones appeared over Sera's ears. Immediately, her mind no longer felt compressed in her skull, but it felt strangely free and open.

"Try to work now," suggested the Guardian Character, whose gentle voice rung through the empty room. With that, she escaped back into her egg, not even giving her name.

Sera complied with her request. Ignoring the fact that she had left the scene, she calmly looked back to the blank page of the exam on the desk. Answers came easily now as the distraction of her stress was now small in comparison to her new found freedom of mind. What was supposed to be hours of work was exceptionally short.

When the exam was filled out, the Character Change wore off. Sera had a huge headache that hurt like her brain was being squished into an unreasonably small space. She pressed against her temples in agony, picking up the motherboard egg. When it cracked open, the Chara's stunning blue eyes were seen in the darkness within.

"What was that? With the headphones? The migraine?" she inquired.

Her Guardian Character was quiet for a short time and didn't move. Finally, she blinked slowly and broke out of the egg once again. "The state of character you took on moments ago is known as a Character Change. Being your would-be self, I triggered special characteristics from the you that you want to be—otherwise known as me—which were symbolized in the form of headphones. I chose the power level judging by your current state of mind. In this particular form out of many other variations of Character Changes, I allowed more than the mere .02 percent of your voluntarily used brainpower to open up. I activated the abandoned, unused areas of the various lobes within your brain, (both left and right,) unlocking extraneous memories of educational information to aid you. Also by doing this I allowed the processing of information to register more swiftly. Other skills such as your judgment, your attention span, your informational organization, writing ability, and etcetera were enhanced tremendously. I also allowed your subconscious to decrease your rapid heart rate to a normal pace to naturally calm the distracting emotion caused by your lack of immediate memory. In this Character Change, not much was enhanced, but it was certainly enough to do its job in this particular circumstance. In later times you will unlock even more of your brainpower, although these things do not last forever. When you return to your usual execution level of mental energy, it results in head pain like what you are experiencing now, due to your brain suddenly returning to its previous limits and trying to ease itself back into using less power than it had been in that short time. Fatigue is another cause. Be warned that if your mind uses too much power at once, it could blow out like an overused power outlet, and you would fall into a coma at least temporarily."

Sera listened in an attempt to follow what she was saying, though it was difficult with the severe headache and the fact that the Chara's voice was hypnotizing with its almost never-changing tone. "Well, thanks for informing me…Uh, what's your name?" she asked.

"Kōda."

"…Thanks for your help," the strawberry-blonde said as her pain lessened. She stood up with the other egg in hand, grabbed her test, and exited the empty room with her new Shugo Chara following behind her.

Nearly getting lost in the hallways, Sera made her way back to the Chairman's office, where the boys were waiting with the other Guardian Characters. Tsukasa was absent. 

"You're done already?" Kukai questioned when she walked in. "That was quick."

"It was with my assistance, of course," the new Chara informed, hovering into view from behind her.

The boys (including Daichi and Kiseki) and Fang examined her in awe. "…Not another one!" Kukai exclaimed kiddingly.

"Congratulations, Sera," Tadase told her.

She nodded with a smile in return. "This is Kōda," she introduced.

The three Charas approached her. "I'm Daichi!" voiced the mint-head.

"Fang's the name, sis."

"I'm Kiseki, the essence of royalty," The lavender-haired Chara informed as he flicked his royal cape with his arm, one hand on a hip.

"Pfft, yea' wright!" the punk Chara sneered. "Moa' like de _essence_ uf **pain-in-da-tush**-ery!" She laughed boisterously but briefly when she saw the Monarch's face fume.

"Hmph," Kōda whispered. "How obnoxious."

"This isn't the half of it…" Daichi muttered.

Kukai and Tadase approached Sera meanwhile.

"Don't tell me you cheated…" Tadase asked her cautiously.

Kōda heard the statement and objected, using nothing more than a calm explanation. "No such thing happened. I allowed her to make the most of the power at her disposal. It was all her own."

"Ooh! I like yoa' style, sis!" Fang complimented.

Kukai gave Sera a skeptical look. "…So you cheated."

"I don't know! I was nervous and petrified because I couldn't remember things. Then Kōda triggered a—what was it?—a…Character Change…and I calmed down and could think straight."

"Well, if that was it, then we can't really hold that against her, Kukai, especially if she didn't trigger it herself," Tadase backed up as he took the completed exam out of Sera's possession.

"I never said I _objected_ to cheating…" Kukai muttered.

It was at that time that Makayla poked her head in the office, her test in hand.

"Mickey-Chan!" Fang exclaimed. "C'meah'! Sehrah got 'ehself a Chara!"

Makayla's tired frown was exchanged for a slightly excited smile. She leisurely jogged inside the open doorway and approached Sera and the other Characters.

"This is Kōda," the strawberry-blonde introduced again.

"…I have the capability to speak my own name, mind you," the new Chara muttered.

The brunette happily congratulated her. She handed Tadase her finished test, which he took with Sera's to Tsukasa's desk.

"Does this mean we're getting out of here?" Kukai asked impatiently.

Tadase nodded. They all made their way outside a few minutes later once the blonde had written a note to the Chairman.

…_Thump… …Thump…_

"…You hear that?" the redhead asked hastily. He stopped his legs from walking further down the school's courtyard. Seeing this, Tadase stopped as well.

The boys recognized that pulse easily. The girls found it peculiar, but didn't think too much of it until they saw the redhead and blonde jog past them. Makayla and Sera exchanged a glance before hesitantly following behind.

…_THUMP… … THUMP…_

The throbbing beat in time with their hearts as they neared the overpowering source. They made their way farther and farther in the direction opposite civilization. The waves shot through them with increasing strength until…

…

Spontaneously, the pulse was silenced. Makayla noticed Fang tense up uncomfortably. Kōda made a change in attitude at the same time. Kiseki and Daichi turned to their masters.

"It's unusual…that eerie feeling is near, Tadase," Kiseki informed.

"Lead the way," his master requested. The chase resumed.

Less than a minute of running ensued. Soon, all of them could sense the disheartening, dangerously mysterious dark aura. Beyond a few trees, in their sight kneeled a small boy, hopeless and suffering in the midst of the evil force. Makayla and Sera were disgusted with sympathy in what they saw. The indescribable monstrosity of such immorality was ugly, and that was an understatement.

Kukai and Tadase turned to the girls.

"Are we going to _do_ something!?" they nearly screamed simultaneously.

"We're going to teach you how," Kukai assured.

"Believe in your would-be self, and say, 'My Heart: Unlock!'" Tadase told them. Kukai joined in saying the quote, and they and their Charas were enveloped into a blinding light. Seconds later, they returned as a…a French king and a skater boy. Kiseki and Daichi were nowhere in sight.

"Platinum Royale!"

"Sky Jack!"

The brunette and the strawberry-blonde admired them without realizing it. The sight was completely bizarre. They didn't even have enough time to fully comprehend it before the boys told them to try for themselves, and with haste. At that time, they forced their eyes that were glued on their male friends to exchange a glance with each other. They hesitated. But when their uncertain faces saw the terrorized boy in the distance, they declared without doubt in their voices, "My Heart: Unlock!"

As Makayla flicked her fingers around her glowing jewel, she and Sera were enveloped into that same light.

Kōda and Fang retreated into their respective eggs, and their masters felt an exhilarating sensation flow through their bodies as the ellipses holding their would-be selves entered their souls.

In vibrant surges of flames, garments appeared on Makayla's glowing body. Millions of pixels of data created Sera's outfit in the same way.

"_**Fire's Jewel!"**_

"_**Emblem Decode!"**_

The on-looking redhead and blonde dropped their jaws. Their star-struck minds didn't even hear the agonizing scream from the victim behind them.

The two landed from the air, their backs facing the boys. Makayla bore vicious black and white dragon wings and a matching tail covered in glossy scales. Her hair was in pigtails that mirrored Fang's, wearing the same white _X_'s to bind them. She wore a boneless bustier top that overlapped a similar white blouse, both strapless. The white top split in the middle, creating a _V_ shape as it bound her torso, revealing her toned tan stomach and parts of her hips. The black blouse flowed on top of the white in the same manner. Fishnet sleeves began below her bare shoulders and ran all the way down her arms under her fingerless white _X_'ed gloves, out of which talons grew from between her knuckles. Her black miniskirt was decorated by a large, fashionably lopsided white _X_ and was teemed with a matching white belt. Fishnets curved around her caramel legs down to her black, white-tongued boots that reached her knees.A black chocker surrounded her neck, including her attached heart necklace (that was now a blazing red color) and her matching Jewel hanging off of it.

Sera wore her hair in a choppy ponytail with plenty of hair left undone to pleasantly frame her face. She was wearing the same headset she had during her Character Change, except complete with the microphone, an antenna, and a strange hexagon-shaped orange eyeglass that matched the technopathic theme. On her top half she wore a white-lined electric blue tube top with a center-closed zippered leather blouse over it, which was sleeveless and had a collar which matched the aforementioned blue shade. What appeared to be a clip-on tie hung over the tube top and under the leather one, poking out above and below the zippered middle. A white belt tightly bound her ribcage under her cleavage to tie it all together. On each bicep, she wore an assortment of bangles. She wore fingerless blue gloves lined with white and black stripes. A black gauntlet covered her right forearm and had a patch of a darker jet black that looked like it could open on command. Around her upper thighs she had a black pencil skirt with two locked zippers that were parallel to her legs. She wore a thick white belt with modernistic glowing lines and a square buckle. Her legs were covered by a dark metallic fabric that poked out the top of her skirt to cover part of her hipbones (it complimented the rest of her exposed stomach), lined with zipper teeth. The material was decorated with laser-yellow lines and stripes, as well as quadrilateral shapes. This design resembled Kōda's egg, as it also mimicked a computer's motherboard. She wore a pair of black boots (just over knee height) that zipped rather than tied. The heel's platforms were white and contained anti-gravity forces that allowed for flight. Lastly, she wore a matching black choker on her neck like Makayla's with her now cyan colored heart necklace and rose charm. These accessories had their curves distorted into angles. It was also noticeable that she was generally more muscular and her originally green eyes had a glowing bluish tint to them.

Makayla and Sera turned around upon hearing a wolf-whistle, courtesy of Kukai. Before they could look in time, Tadase had already whacked him upside the back of the head with his staff for such erotic disrespect, although in truth, he kind of had a little bit of reason to with what the girls in front of them were wearing, especially the brunette. What Tadase couldn't believe was how _different_ Sera was, especially in comparison to his antediluvian outfit.

As they turned around to the boys, an odd echo of Fang's voice from within Makayla's heart was audible. _"You'd betteh' not be lookin' where I think ya awre, boy."_

"It's kind of…inevitable!" the redhead muttered as he was reviving from the blow.

Suddenly, the girls noticed the child lying lifelessly on the ground in the far distance, and after quick seconds of their watch, they spotted something obviously precious emit from his chest and gasped, making the boys turn around.

Like (what felt like) so long ago, the Heart's Egg of the boy burst into innumerable pieces that were lost from existence.

The brunette and strawberry-blonde watched with petrifying fear as darkness overtook the body. The kid stood under the command of the dark and aimed his eyes in the direction of the four of them. They were paralyzed by the unbearable glare of the pupil-less irises. The boy raised his arm to project an attack, and the four Character Bearers split up in preparation for battle.

"Oh my gosh, this is so weird!" Makayla muttered as she ascended into the air on her wings. She actually got a decent look at herself as she tumbled through the wind…no wonder she got whistled at. She kind of deserved it. Thoughts like those flashed through the back of her head before she brushed them away due to their complete irrelevance.

Sera recognized the open feeling in her mind again, except it was even more limitless than before. Her right eye had adjusted to the orange spectacle in its view, which was packed with advanced technical abilities, and Kōda's brain enhancement (which was now 120% more powerful than her previous Character Change) allowed for unrealistic registry of the world around her. She also had unnatural depth perception and the ability to calculate exact estimates in almost literally no time. She hovered about half a foot over the ground as she circled the boy, inspecting him for weakness. As she came around one side, she noticed Kukai gawking up into the sky, absentmindedly riding his jet-driven skateboard. She looked up to follow his gaze, and of course her best friend was up there.

"Souma! …Souma!" the strawberry-blonde called to him. He finally burst out of his gaze after she called him for a third time, and he turned her way. "We all know she looks libidinous, but for the sake of this kid, get your head in the battle!" she told him strictly. He was taken aback by her insistency. He told her he'd follow orders, but it was just to get her off his back.

Sera was now the kid's next target. He didn't cease his dark attacks, even after her multiple dodges. Soon enough, she was moving so fast that eventually she felt herself completely dissolve. In as much time as it took to blink, her body was erased from physical space in a distortion of data, and even just as her unmatched brainpower could register the suffocation of her lack of existence, her body re-appeared in the same way and in the same speed as she had gone. Except, she was now behind the boy. She had teleported.

Tadase watched in awe. Seeing that the child was now distracted, he reacted quickly and gave him a blow of Holy Crown, which unfortunately didn't seem have any affect.

"_Mickey-Chan, yuse the cloaws!"_ Fang had ordered. Makayla flew to the side opposite the facing direction of the possessed child, who was trying to land a hit on Tadase. Makayla examined the weapons on her gloves. Determined, she clenched her fists and _X_'ed her arms over her chest, then back-hand slashed them with great speed as she opened herself up. Six darts caught fire instantly and landed multiple slashes on the target. They disappeared after piercing the boy and reformed onto her knuckles once again. It was able to knock him to the ground.

"White Decoration!" Tadase cried, now receiving an opening. A fountain-like light showered on the child and weakened him, but not yet to the point of defeat.

Makayla sent another wave of darts down at him, which pinned him to the ground.

The strawberry-blonde hovered up to Makayla's spot in the air. "Nice job," she complimented the brunette.

"You too."

"… …_Now_," chimed the soft voice of Kōda, emitting from Sera's soul.

Suddenly, she began acting without her own control. As she saw her friend prepare to attack, Makayla swooped down about a yard away from the boy and began to circle him to ensure he couldn't move.

Sera saw the technical eyeglass lock onto the squirming child. She raised an arm to her right earphone and pressed it with two fingers, which triggered a hologram screen's appearance in front of her. She proceeded to hit a large, polygon-shaped translucent key with the palm of her left hand, which read "Enter," and the screen disappeared. The strawberry-blonde pointed with two left fingers at the boy.

"All allies standby! Makayla, prepare for attack!" she shouted. "Virus Termination!"

A large beam of data overtook the boy's body, and once it vanished, the dark aura of the child was nowhere to be seen or felt. He was still left unconscious.

"_Yoa' turn, Mickey!"_ called Fang once again.

Upon hearing her voice, she too, got her chance to act without her control. The brunette jumped back into the air, did a few spins, and made a heart symbol using her index and middle fingers.

"Heart Reborn!"

Before their eyes, the shards of the boy's shattered Heart's Egg became anew once again. It glowed even brighter than the one that was crushed. It made its way into the child's chest.

"Hide! He shouldn't see us like this," Kukai told his three companions. They complied and made themselves unseen; Makayla and Kukai flew up into the branches of one tree, Sera another tree. Without the ability to fly, Tadase had to make do with a bush.

The boy stood up in confusion. He appeared normal, and the wounds he had acquired from battle were healed. He hesitantly began walking into the distance somewhere, and the four Character Bearers revealed themselves when he was out of sight. They all approached each other.

Kukai and Tadase exchanged an excited smile after the four of them reverted from their Transformations. Their enthusiasm was instantly traded out for shock when they heard a pain-filled outcry burst from the throat of the strawberry-blonde as she clutched her forehead and fell to a knee. Makayla inhaled sharply and kneeled down beside her in confusion, putting a hand on her back. Sera tried to fight the need to scream as she felt her brain squeeze in her cranium.

"Sera!" Tadase couldn't help but shout. "What happened!?"

"This will pass. In my Character interactions with her, be it Change or Transformation, I enhance the usage of her brainpower. When the time of reverting comes, her brain must return to its original amount of focused use, leading to a temporary migraine as it adjusts to its rapid change in limits and powers down. The pain may vary depending on the amount of enhancement and/or time in the Character interaction," Kōda coolly explained.

"Owch. Pooa' gurl…" Fang sympathized, biting her lip.

Daichi and Kukai exchanged a glance.

"Are you okay?" Makayla and Tadase inquired.

"I will be."

Eventually, she stood up, feeling slightly dizzy. That feeling passed on faster than the headache did, though. Tadase walked close to Sera as they made their way back to civilization, having a mode of protectiveness flow through him. He didn't hesitate to help her keep balance as the dizziness reigned. The two caught up shortly to Kukai and Makayla, who were leading the way.

"You're Character Transformation looks _awesome_, by the way," the redhead complimented the brunette.

"Apparently. You was wawtchin' her the whole battle," Fang pointed out. "Awll you did was fly aroun' on yoa' skateboaw'd the whole time."

"Shut it, brat," Kukai threatened teasingly to the Chara, pointing a finger at her. "I was trying to say something good…"

Makayla laughed. "Yeah, right when you decide to _actually_, _voluntarily_ compliment me."

"Hey, you're _welcome_!" he sarcastically retorted.

The girl couldn't stop grinning.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Tadase wondered, still walking behind their friends, now along the city sidewalk.

"Yeah, I am."

The unsuspecting blonde's heart began beating in his throat when he felt an arm curl around him in a thankful side-hug. In the gesture, Sera let her head fall on his shoulder. He felt her cheek curve into a smile. "Thanks for being there," she added. Quickly, he returned the hug before he could look like an idiot doing nothing.

"Pleasure is mine," he answered. A shy grin made its way on his face.

The hug broke. "…By the way, I like your Transformation," Sera spoke lowly in slight hesitation. The outfit he wore explained the outburst he had made that one day in the gym back in her dimension. "That's your would-be self?"

Tadase was quiet in the midst of his flattery. "Oh, uh…you like it? T-thanks. Being a king is symbolism of my wish to have courage and strength…"

Sera hummed in acknowledgment of his words. "I think you're well on your way."

He smiled wider.

Soon they had made it back to the apartment building.

~`~.~`~

"Well, that was…extravagant," Makayla brought up when they returned to their home.

"You bet…" her roommate agreed.

Like any other day, their evening was concluded with a long chat about how crazy their lives had become.


End file.
